Then Comes a Baby in a Baby Carriage
by myfriendfiction
Summary: The journey to motherhood was a long and complicated path for Jade Oliver. The topic of motherhood had always brought about insecurities in her but now in her 30s she was married to her high school sweetheart, financially secure, and half of a Hollywood power couple. The timing was perfect but nothing ever came easy for Jade and Beck. But easy is boring, right?
1. The Right Time

_I know there are so many bade pregnancy stories! I guess it is just an interesting topic to explore. This story, in my opinion, is set apart from the others because Beck and Jade are adults, in their 30s with successful Hollywood careers. It explores how Jade, whose personality does not exactly conjure up the most common images of motherhood, came to the decision that she wants to be a mother. I use flashbacks to show the moments in Jade's life that led to her to making the decision to become a mother. Of course, once Jade decides to become a mother the journey from that point to holding the baby in her arms will not being an easy or boring path._

**Chapter 1 **

**The Right Time**

The timing was perfect and she was ready. Jade Oliver was ready to have a baby. She was at the age where it was now or never. At thirty five Jade and Beck's careers were stable and they could both afford to take some time off not only in the financial sense but also in the sense that Hollywood wouldn't forget about them. It could not be denied that they were a Hollywood power couple. Also, at thirty five now was a good time to get pregnant in terms of health, ability, and not being too old to see her kid graduate from college. All she had to do was tell her husband. However, Jade felt that telling her husband that she stabbed someone with scissors and the dead body was in the basement was easier than saying the words, "Hey babe, I think now is the perfect time for us to procreate with a purpose." Jade also felt that if telling her husband was difficult telling others when she did get pregnant would be insurmountable. The reason Jade felt so conflicted about the topic of pregnancy, babies, and marriage for that matter, was rather complicated. As any shrink knows it all started in childhood. Jade's parents were bitterly divorced by the time Jade entered puberty. By the time she got a training bra Jade was vehemently anti marriage and babies seemed to go along with marriage.

Jade had a busy and stressful morning. She was now trying to unwind by writing. However, her mind was elsewhere as she was anticipating the conversation she would have with her husband tonight. It was a long and complicated journey that led to her deciding that she not only wanted to have a baby but that she also was ready to have one now. It had been such a long journey that she was now anxious to get started. The writer couldn't help but think back to one of her first interactions with her baby brother.

_"Jade will you watch the baby so I can take a shower and maybe take a really short nap?" her stepmother tiredly asked. _

_"I don't know anything about babies," the fifteen year old declared. _

_"He's asleep if he wakes up just pick him up and rock him," Kelly stated, "You'll be fine." _

_"Fine," Jade begrudgingly stated. _

_Jade had no baby experience and she wasn't thrilled when she learned that her father and his new wife were expecting. Babies were germy, whiny, helpless, and a product of "love". They did not hold her interest. Richard West wasn't very warm to his daughter and treated her like an obligation so why would he want to give parenthood a second go. _

_ Everything was fine until the baby woke up and started to cry. _

_ Jade picked him up saying,"Shh, don't cry your mother's asleep and I don't want to deal with your cries." _

_ Jade knew it was ridiculous to reason with something that couldn't even hold it's own head up. Slowly, Jade began to sway with the baby in her arms and he quieted down. She didn't know why she swayed but it worked. _

_He soon fell asleep and Jade let out a sigh of relief as she thought to herself, "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and he's kind of cute." _

Jade was shaken out of her thoughts and tried to refocus on the blank word document before her. However, the impending conversation she needed to have with her husband was taking up residence in her brain as she sat in her dark office. The baby topic had been in the air in the Oliver household. Most of their friends already had children. Cat and Robbie had three girls ages five, four, and three. Cat wasn't so good with birth control or family planning. Jade actually had to go to the obgyn with her so she could make sure Cat got a birth control method the forgetful, ditsy, and busy mom could handle. Tori had a daughter age two. In case you're wondering, yes, she did inherit Tori's cheekbones. Thankfully, Andre had no children, as most of his girlfriends had not been worthy. The musician just couldn't find the right girl. This fact made both Jade and Beck appreciative that they found their mate before fame and fortune arrived to complicate things. Since Beck and Jade had been dating since they were fourteen and married since they were twenty five everyone had expected them to be the first out of their friends to have a baby. However, much to dismay of their friends, family, and the gossip magazines that had not been the case.

The media, paparazzi, their friends, and parents had all been pestering the couple about when they would have a baby. There had been a plethora of tabloid articles stating that the Oliver's were expecting. They were voted number one in the Most Anticipated Couple in the Baby Bump Watch poll in the beginning of the year. It was also only a few months ago that Beck's grandmother had called asking if they were expecting. Jade had overheard the conversation.

"No grandma. Jade's not pregnant. If she was we would tell you so don't believe what you read at the checkout counter. "

Jade then heard a pause in the conversation which made Beck state, "That's a really personal question grandma. Look I really have to go. I'll talk to you soon. Love you. Bye."

Beck's parents were constantly throwing hints their way. Most didn't even register on Beck's radar but as a woman Jade could spot a "when are you going to have a baby hint" from a mile away. Even Jade's mother was getting impatient to have a grandchild. She once went as far as emailing Jade a picture of a black baby tutu. Once when Jade was having lunch with her mother and mother in law they seemed to gang up on her. Carol Oliver conveniently needed to buy a baby shower gift for a friend and Jade's mother Emily stated, "We should just all go together to look. It would be fun." The pestering didn't last long and only occurred intermittently because only a true idiot would pester Jade Oliver. She also had a killer agent and threatened to sue every publication that printed a slanderous or untrue story. Unfortunately, you couldn't sue family members for being annoying. Jade was willing to try but Beck was never for it.

The baby issue had always been complicated. The couple had been navigating it for most of their relationship. There were times, particularly when they were dating, that Jade wasn't so sure she ever wanted to have a child and should therefore end her relationship with Beck. She always felt that Beck would be a great father but she wasn't always so sure she would make a great mother. It was partly the experiences she had with her baby brother along with Beck's confidence in her that made her feel confident that she not only wanted a baby but would also be a good mother.

_The college junior's had just tucked in Jade's brother, Ben, for the night. He was six, all boy, and exhausting. Jade's dad and stepmother, Kelly, were on a weekend getaway for their wedding anniversary. To anyone else it would have looked like a romantic getaway. However, Jade knew better. Her father had pulled the same move with her mother. Also, Richard West, while certainly no father of the year, would only leave his son with his daughter and her boyfriend for the weekend if he was desperate. Kelly had been the one to suggest that Beck be allowed to help Jade babysit. Ben had wanted it as he idolized his sister's boyfriend and had known him all his life. As far as Ben was concerned Beck and Jade were a packaged deal. He had never known them as separate entities. To Ben Beck was family. To Jade's dad Beck was a piece of furniture. In spite of what this weekend getaway of her father and Kelly represented to Jade she had been trying to let go of those negative connotations and enjoy being in her father's house without her father but in the dark quiet of the house her mind couldn't help but wander. _

_ "Babe, what's wrong," Jade heard her boyfriend ask as he sat beside her and she was pulled out of her thoughts and into his arms. _

_"I was just thinking about what's going to happen to Ben if his parents get a divorce or if they don't." _

_Beck too sensed that Jade's father was headed towards his second divorce. _

_" Well, at least he'll have a big sister that's been there. I mean it you're a really good sister. If it weren't for Ben you'd probably never come to this house and endure your father, "Beck assured Jade. _

_Thoughts of Jade's own future also bounced around her head. Earlier as Jade watched Beck play with Ben she found herself thinking about how good Beck was with children. He would make a great father someday. Jade thought those were rather grownup thoughts but she then realized that "being grownup" wasn't that far away. They weren't kids anymore. _

_"You're really good with him too. He of course assumed you would be coming with me so Kelly must have manipulated my dad into allowing you to join me. He had wanted Kelly's parents or sister to watch Ben but it didn't work out. Apparently, my father doesn't think I'm trustworthy enough to watch a six year old," Jade lamented. _

_"Well, I'd let you watch my six year old," Beck joked. _

_ "Oh, yeah. You better not have any six year olds," Jade countered. _

_"I don't, unless there's something you need to tell me, "Beck professed. _

_The couple was watching television until Jade asked in a quiet voice," Do you ever think about having children someday?" _

_"Yeah, and you'd be the mother, just in case that wasn't clear," Beck answered as he took his girl's hand in his own. _

_ "I don't know if I ever want to have kids. I just don't know if I could be a good mom. I'm impatient and angry. I want to have a career in showbiz which doesn't really cater to having a family," Jade started to explain. _

_"Well we have plenty of time before making big decisions. I mean that test we have in Film History takes precedence right now," the aspiring actor joked. _

_"I want to be fair to you. I know we're only twenty one but you deserve for me to be honest. I don't want you to be wasting your time with me because I see you with Ben and I know you'd make a great dad," she bravely relayed to her boyfriend. _

_ "Babe, I'm glad we're talking about this and laying all our cards on the table but I don't want you to worry about it. I know you're not keen to the notion of having kids. It's not a deal breaker with me. I'm realistic too. I can't imagine balancing a family and a career in Hollywood. You must constantly be disappointing your kids and that thought makes me rethink having kids. If you don't want to have kids one day because of your career or you don't feel compelled too, that's fine. But don't not have kids because you think you'd be a bad mother. I know you'd be good to your own kids. You're so good with Ben. You've shown considerable patience being friends with Cat for all these years," Beck said trying to lighten the mood. _

_Jade was about to speak but Beck interrupted her. " Yes, you're tough but no one would mess with our kid with you as a mother. You'd fight to make sure your kid got everything they deserved and you wouldn't put up with shit," Beck explained to the girl he loves as he lifted up her chin so he could look her in the eye. _

_ "If I never want to have kids I don't want you to resent me one day," Jade reasoned. _

_"I know you like to make your own decisions so give me the same courtesy. My decision is you. Whatever that does or does not entail I'm going along for the ride," Beck stated, "Ok". _

_ "Ok," Jade declared as she leaned in to kiss her boyfriend. _

_ He always knew just what to say to her. She just hoped he was right. The truth is when she was fourteen she never wanted to have children but as she spent time with her brother and saw Beck with him she wasn't so sure anymore. She felt rather conflicted. When she saw Beck with her brother she could imagine him with their own child and that thought freaked her out. _

Jade had barely more than a paragraph typed, which she kept deleting and refreshing. All of this thinking about the past and future made her think of all of the seminal moments in her life that had made her realize she wanted to have a kid and was making the right choice. With Beck's help, memories of taking care of her little brother, successfully babysitting Cat's wacky brood, and some encouraging words from a few others Jade came to accept that she wouldn't be an awful mother. Beck was always patient with Jade on the issue. He told her that he was ready when she was. If she never was ready he would be ok because he has her and they can just get another dog or babysit Cat and Robbie's litter. Then, they would forget all about babies as Cat and Robbie have three children under five. Jade was pretty sure that Cat had "conveniently" dropped off the girls a few times in hopes of getting Jade and Beck to desire parenthood. Three young children did not help Cat's cause most of the time, it more likely worked against Cat's goal. However, there were still moments, like putting the girls to sleep that made Jade feel more comfortable with the idea of motherhood. A picture of the Shapiro's three girls which sat on the book shelf behind Jade's desk caught her eye. She wasn't going to be getting much writing done today.

_"The feeling of successfully putting to sleep Cat and Robbie's three wacky children is equivalent to the feeling I had when the first movie I wrote won the Sundance Film Festival," Jade exhaustedly stated. _

_ It was Robbie and Cat's wedding anniversary and the couple had talked Beck into watching all three children. Jade had not been thrilled when Beck told her what they would spend their Saturday evening doing, especially since she had previously warned him that the couple was on the hunt for a babysitter. Although young they already had distinct characteristics of their bizarre parents. That combined with having three young children right in a row made finding a sitter difficult. Just as the couple thought they could finally relax the youngest, only one month old awoke crying. The couple looked at each other waiting for the other one to move. _

_"You should get her. She likes you best," Beck explained. _

_"That's true. I think she only likes me for my boobs though," Jade explained. _

_"Well, they are good pillows," Beck offered. _

_"Yeah, the only downside is when she tries to bite them," Jade said as she left the room. _

_ She returned with the baby and held the infant in her arms. _

_"Why are babies always putting their arm down your shirt or putting their hand on your boob to get your attention? I swear between the three kids I've been felt up more times today than I was in the first two months after you got your driver's license," Jade joked._

_ Beck gave a small laugh but he was rather distracted. Beck thought to himself that his wife looked really good with a baby in her arms. Jade noticed Beck looking at her and couldn't help but smile a little. _

_"I know after we finally got the kids to bed I said that I felt like a POW but this one kind of gives you Stockholm Syndrome," the blue eyed woman mused. _

_"So you thinking about us becoming a victim someday?" Beck said to his wife._

_ "Yeah, but after babysitting three kids today I think it still might be a little bit. There's a few more career things I'd like to do but I think the day we have a kid is closer rather than farther," Jade let her husband know. _

Jade was certainly not going to get any writing done today, she mused, as she looked at the clock knowing Beck would soon be home and she would be sharing a life changing decision with him.

_Please review: Did you like it, have any favorite lines, is Jade in character, etc. I will post chapter two soon. I have 99% of the story already written so I will update regularly. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them and am very open about incorporating them._

Preview of Chapter 2:

"Yeah, we should but um I was also thinking that if we wanted to now would probably be a good time to do the kid thing," Jade shakily stated.

"Are you saying you want to have a baby?" Beck questioned as he went to stand in front of Jade.


	2. A Very Happy Husband

**Chapter 2**

**A Very Happy Husband**

Jade gave up trying to write and went to the kitchen to get dinner started. She was in the middle of preparing dinner when Beck walked in giving her a kiss on the cheek and then the lips when she turned around. They informed each other of their day as Jade finished dinner and put it in the oven. Beck had an easy day of filming and Jade actually was able to successfully have a calm meeting with her literary agent earlier that morning but had a bit of writer's block. Jade noticed that one of the kitchen cabinet knobs was loose so she asked Beck to fix it. It was so sexy that he could not only be a critically claimed actor but also handy around the house. Most actors did not possess both talents. As Beck was in the middle of fixing the knob Jade sat on the kitchen counter going through the mail. It was then that she got the nerve to bring up the baby topic.

"Hey, so I was going over our schedules for the near future and I noticed we both have some free time coming up, "Jade informed her husband.

"Yeah, we should probably plan a trip or something," Beck added.

"Yeah, we should but um I was also thinking that if we wanted to now would probably be a good time to do the kid thing," Jade shakily stated.

"Are you saying you want to have a baby?" Beck questioned as he went to stand in front of Jade.

His hands found their familiar spot on her thighs and her arms gravitated around his neck.

"Yeah, I mean now would be a good time, since we have light schedules and my eggs shouldn't be too dried up. I'm going to need you to be around to hold my hair back when I'm throwing up and cater to my every need because if those hormones make some people act like bitches I'm going to be a raging bitch. I also want both of us to be home since we'll be taking care of a newborn. I don't want you to be the only one losing your beauty sleep," Jade joked.

Beck simply kissed his wife, again and again and again.

"You know babe it doesn't work instantaneously, "Jade reminded her eager and appreciative husband before he went pack to fixing the drawer knob.

"Ok, so how do we want to go about this?" Jade began.

"I had my annual appointment last week and the doctor said everything should be good and whenever we're ready I can stop taking the pill. So, since time is of the essence how about I stop the pill tomorrow and then in a few months or so I'll be experiencing extreme fatigue and nausea,"Jade detailed.

"Sounds good, not the extreme fatigue and nausea, the plan," Beck clarified.

"Now we just need to figure out if we want to plan conception or have sex like normal and we get pregnant whenever you happen to knock me up," Jade expressed.

The couple both agreed on the latter option.

_How did you like it? What do you want to happen next? Please let me know in a review. _

_Preview for Chapter 3:_

"Yeah, I went to Walmart so I could do self checkout. It was really ironic because I saw a tabloid when I was in line and it said "Will the Oliver's Be Welcoming a Special Delivery Soon?"


	3. The Waiting Game

**Chapter 3**

**The Waiting Game**

Jade was out running a few last minute errands before the couple were leaving town to go on vacation. They were going to the French Riviera where they would be staying at the vacation home of Santos Emmanuel and his wife Isabel. They were rather good friends of the couple. Santos used Beck in many of his films. Isabel was a fashion designer who designed many of the dresses Jade wore to special events. She was a saucy French woman and one of the few Hollywood wives Jade could stand being around. The couple had become friends very fast. Jade had just finished her last errand, which was her most important errand.

"Hey, babe. I just finished my errands," Jade informed her husband.

"Ok, did you get the pregnancy test?" Beck responded.

"Yeah, I went to Walmart so I could do self checkout. It was really ironic because I saw a tabloid when I was in line and it said "Will the Oliver's Be Welcoming a Special Delivery Soon?"

"I'm on my way home now. So I'll see you in a few," Jade told her husband as she sat in traffic.

"Ok, I'll see you in a few. I love you," Beck replied.

"I love you too."

Fifteen minutes later Jade got home. Beck brought the last bags into the house while Jade headed upstairs to take the test which could change their lives forever. It had been two months since Jade went off the pill. She was late and she thought she might really be pregnant since she had felt a little off the last few days. As Beck entered the room and sat at the foot of the bed the timer on Jade's cell phone rang. She rose from their bed to take a look. She immediately came back out and Beck looked at her expectantly.

"I'm too nervous you look," Jade claimed.

Beck took a deep breath and made his way to their bathroom taking Jade's hand in his.

"It's negative," Beck informed his wife.

They both tried to hide their disappointment but they knew realistically they had only just started to try.

"Well, good thing were going to the French Rivera tomorrow. We'll have plenty of time to work on getting you pregnant," Beck told his wife as he took her in his arms and gave her a peck on the lips.

She put her arms around his neck and seductively whispered in his ear, "Just wait tell you see some of the things I backed."

It was certainly disappointing to see a negative pregnancy test but that night as they lay in bed waiting for sleep to find them they both thought back to a time they were relieved to see a negative pregnancy test.

_It was the first pregnancy test Jade had ever taken. She was nineteen and a stressed out college freshman studying for finals. She was four days late and that was unusual. She had spent the last two days going to the bathroom every hour to check to see if she had started her period. She remembered forgetting to take two pills. You couldn't get pregnant from missing two pills you just had to double up so you could catch up. She hadn't planned on telling Beck that she was late but the worry had made her lash out at Beck, which made him lash out at her. She had finally broken down and told Beck. It was nine o'clock at night. He drove her to the store to buy a pregnancy test. When they arrived Beck took off his seat belt to go inside with her but she told him to wait in the car. Jade felt paranoid in the store and kept looking around to make sure no one saw her. When she reached the aisle with pregnancy tests she let out a deep breath and tried to inconspicuously choose one. She didn't know why there were so many different brands and types. She knew she sure as hell didn't want one with a smiley face or frowny face on it. She chose one with a simple yes or no reading as faces disgusted her and a positive or negative reading also left her unsatisfied. Jade added mints and a People magazine to her purchase. She hated mints and gossip magazines. Jade felt that the cashier had judgy eyes so she made sure to send her a Jade West glare. They returned to her dorm room where Jade kicked out her roommate. Her roommate, Amelia, was use to Jade's harsh behavior. Amelia hardly ever spoke, was goth, and Jade was pretty sure she was a wiccan. When Tori and Cat met Jade's roommate they warned their friend not to piss her roommate off because she might put a curse on Jade but Jade wasn't scared of anyone. Although at the moment she was scared of the possible human growing inside her. So Jade went to the common bathroom she shared with a dozen other people, took the test, hid it in her purse, and walked back to her room. She was certainly experiencing a college freshman cliché. Beck was waiting on her bed. He looked nervous. He was never nervous. _

_"What are we going to do if I'm pregnant?" Jade asked as she sat beside her boyfriend. _

_ "Let's just find out then we can deal with the result," Beck suggested as he rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her. _

_"No matter what the result is we'll figure it out together."_

_Jade pulled the test out of her bag and held it in her left hand between them. _

_"It's negative. It's negative," the couple chanted as they let out a sigh of relief. _

As Jade drifted to sleep she assumed that in the morning when she woke up the disappointing news would not be weighing on her mind. However, her night was filled with tossing and turning and when the sun came up Jade felt a burden weighing her down.

_Thank you for reading. What do you think will happen next? What do you want to have happen? If you want something else to read check out my other stories too. _

_Review for Ch 4_

"Now is not the time to be bossy, at least not that kind of bossy. And get your head in the game."


	4. Another Chore to Add To the List

**Chapter 4**

**Another Chore to Add to The List**

Jade sat on the bathroom counter looking at a negative pregnancy test. It had been three months since she had taken the first pregnancy test and five months since they had started trying. She was starting to worry. She threw the test in the trashcan and then emptied the trash. She didn't tell Beck she was taking a test and didn't want him to find out. Jade had been hoping to surprise him. She fixed herself a salad for lunch and tried to quell her worries. However, her mind was restless. The logical part of her brain knew that they had only been trying to get pregnant for five months. It wasn't time to start worrying yet. Of course, when Jade Oliver wanted something she wanted it now. Patience had never been her strength and it never would be her strength.

Beck and Jade had recently just gotten back from vacation. While vacation had, for the most part, gotten Jade's mind off of work and trying to conceive her constantly turning mind could never be completely shut off. She and Beck had spent a week in the French Rivera with their Hollywood friends who owned a vacation home there, the Emmanuel's, who had a year and a half old daughter. Spending time with the adorable toddler had been bittersweet. On the one hand it added to Jade's confidence that she could be a good mother. But on the other hand, it made her biological clock tick faster and the fact that Jade had a strong desire to have a child freaked her out and made her impatient. Even caustic Jade was not exempt to the desire for motherhood.

Jade thought back to an outing with Isabel Emmanuel and her daughter, Amelie. They were in a clothing store looking at toddler clothes. Jade wanted to slap herself in the face because she thought a lot of the baby clothes were adorable, even a few of the ones with a little pink on them. Although, she did think there were way too many pink ones there was this really cute pink and black outfit that Jade could imagine buying her own daughter one day, if she ever had one. Isabel and Jade were very similar in personality. Many people were surprised when Isabel had announced she was pregnant and Jade knew that she would be met with the same shocked faces. She knew Isabel could understand her and chose to confide in the woman.

_"So, Beck and I decided to start trying to have a baby," Jade whispered to Isabel. _

_"Really? That's great. I could really use a cool mom to hang with. Someone who wants to introduce their kid to rock music, will dress their baby in black, not brag about how their child is walking before mine, nor constantly wax on about how you shouldn't do this or that, or constantly show me pictures of their child's latest mess from eating spaghetti. Tori is very guilty of that last one," Isabel stated. _

_"Well, I have to get pregnant first. Also, I love that you find as much issue with Tori as I do." _

_"Seriously, though if you need any advice you know who to go to. My first piece of advice is a warning. People are going to constantly try to touch your pregnant belly. It will be very hard to not slap them across the face." _

_"I'm not looking forward to that part. It's strange there are so many pregnancy and baby things that I am not looking forward to but I still want to have a child. It doesn't make any sense." Jade shared. _

_"Well, that is the gravitational pull we women often face when it comes to motherhood. Wanting to push a cantaloupe out is not logical but we do it willingly anyway. Although women who do it more than four times are nuts." _

_"How long did it take you to get pregnant?" _

_"I think it took like eight or nine months. It took a while. The waiting was agony but it of course was all worth it, even when she wakes up at 3am throwing up. It's just something that doesn't make logical sense, like any kind of love."_

_"Don't I know it," mused Jade," I met Beck at fourteen and I was not the type of girl waiting to fall in love but I did. We've been on a rollercoaster ever since and we're opposite in so many ways but we still fell in love and the rest was history or in our case a true E Hollywood Story." _

After the Emmanuel's left Beck and Jade stayed behind in the Emmanuel house for another week. They kept busy taking walks on the beach, going to museums, site seeing, and exploring the city streets. Beck and Jade also indulged in plenty of French television and made a game out of trying to guess the plotlines. They also spent plenty of time doing what they do best, being wrapped up in each other. Even after being together for so long the occasional blush would still arise upon their faces when their friends commented on their affectionate nature or when they themselves thought of their own exploits.

_The light from the moon illuminated the patio creating shadows through the vine covered pergola surrounding the hot tub giving Beck and Jade privacy, for which they were thankful. _

_"Wait, we can't do this here," Jade stated but went right back to meeting Beck's lips with an intensity matching his own as she wrapped her arms even tighter around him. _

_"I know," Beck agreed as he broke away for air but did not stop and he only moved his hands closer and closer to divesting them of the clothing that was a barrier between them. _

_"Don't stop." _

_"Okay, good," Beck voiced as his lips made their way to her neck and chest. _

_"But if our child is conceived in a hot tub we will never tell a soul and we will forget this is how it happened," Jade told Beck as she weaved her fingers in his hair. _

_"Deal," Beck agreed as he once again met her lips. _

_The moonlight became covered by clouds and the air started to grow chill as the sound of laughter filled the air. _

_"I can't believe after twenty one years together we're still hooking up in hot tubs. Most couples that have been together that long, well I don't actually know many couples that have been together for that long but the ones I do know sleep in separate bedrooms or are just boring," Jade mused as the two laughed. _

_"Well, normal is boring and we've never been either," Beck professed giving his wife another kiss as she moved back into his lap as the air had grown colder. _

_"It's getting cold, you ready to go in?" Beck asked as he wrapped his arms around his wife. _

_"Yeah, let's leave this place of sin and debauchery," Jade joked. _

_"Cause you're so innocent?"_

_"You're the one that can't keep your hands to yourself."_

_"It's not my fault you get more gorgeous every year."_

_Jade smiled, although Beck could not see and stated, "You're very handsy," as his hands had a habit of wondering whenever they were near each other. _

_"So are you."_

_"Touché," Jade claimed as she turned her body to face Beck and he leaned into kiss her as she leaned away and made her way out of the hot tub with Beck following close behind. _

Jade tried to think of other things besides babies but she knew that there was one thing that would take her worries away and that was getting pregnant. Since Jade hadn't gotten pregnant yet she needed to make it happen.

Later that night Jade sat in bed with her husband. She was reading a novel and he a script until she spoke up.

"Beck I've been thinking that since I haven't gotten pregnant as soon as we were hoping and we're kind of on a schedule I should find out when I'm ovulating and we can make sure we have sex then. It might speed the process up."

Beck agreed and the couple started coinciding sex with ovulation. Two months after that decision there were still no signs of pregnancy. The wait and uncertainty was becoming a challenge. For the first time since they had started having sex at sixteen it had become a bit of a chore. Taking ovulation tests and then planning when they would have sex had taken a bit of the spontaneity out of their healthy sex life.

"Beck, are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you had to leave for that meeting before I even woke up, you've been gone almost all day, and I'm only ovulating for the next 12-24 hours," Jade complained, "the clock is ticking."

"I know. I'm sorry. What was I suppose to say, "Can I get out of this meeting early because my wife is ovulating?"

"It's not like we could be having sex right now."

"Why not Oliver?"

"Because the maid is cleaning the house right now," Beck explained.

"When we were teenagers I use to sneak into your bedroom while your parents were sleeping and we'd have sex. Remember when your dad was mowing the lawn that one time and we were doing homework but we took a break and had sex before he finished mowing?" Jade countered, "We also have had sex in several other public places, like the janitor's closet in high school and the wings of the stage that one time, behind locked doors at parties, cars, dressing rooms."

Beck interrupted his wife before she started naming the places as adults they'd had sex, like his trailer when he was working, "We were teenagers then and if we didn't sneak around we wouldn't get any," Beck countered running his hand through his hair.

"Listen, we'll lock the door, be quiet, she's cleaning downstairs, it's a big house, and I'll make it worth your while," Jade seductively relayed to her husband.

"I know you will. I'm turning onto our street now."

Moments later Beck was home. He politely said hello to the maid and then tried to casually make his exit and join Jade upstairs.

"Finally, what took you so long?" Jade complained as she put down her magazine and took off her shirt and pants.

Beck locked the door and started to undress but not before telling his wife, "Now is not the time to be impatient."

"Can we like hurry things up now?"

"Seriously, not can we hurry up because I need you now but hurry up because I'm impatient and grouchy," Beck replied as he looked down at Jade.

"Sorry I just realized that I forgot to leave the maid some money to buy new cleaning products with and she's almost done cleaning."

"If she's almost done than we could have waited until she left," Beck stated.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to get this done and if we waited it would have cut into dinnertime. I already have a chicken enchiladas in the oven. I'm only ovulating for the next 12-24 hours," Jade explained.

"When you do get pregnant how am I ever going to tell the difference between pregnancy mood swings and your regular mood swings?"

"Take it back."

"You know it's true."

"Don't tell me what I know."

"I can't believe we're fighting right now."

"Fighting usually turns me on more but I've totally lost it," Jade stated as Beck moved to lay beside her.

"Same," Beck agreed looking defeated.

Jade rolled onto her side and gently ran her fingertips along Beck's arm.

"Tell me you love".

"Magic word".

"Please".

I love you."

"Now let's get this show on the road," Jade stated while claiming her place on top.

"Jade, baby, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to get this show on the road," Beck asked his wife as he lay over her.

"Sorry I'm just a little distracted. I also think I heard the maid's footsteps," Jade replied.

"Now's really not a good time for me to stop. Can we just go ahead and finish?" Beck asked.

"There was not another option in my mind," Jade angrily declared.

"Now is not the time to be bossy, at least not that kind of bossy. And get your head in the game."

"Ok."

"Ok."

Jade pulled herself away, pulled her clothes on, and caught her breath before going downstairs, but not before saying, "We sure know how to get the job done." Beck simply laid back and ran his and through his hair.

Jade decided not to tell Beck that the maid was waiting. She was trying to make herself look busy but Jade could see right through people. It was a bit awkward.

_Alright, how was it? Does it feel realistic? Please review, even if it is only a two word review or an emoticon. I'd greatly appreciate it. _

_Next chapter involves Cat's birthday party!_


	5. Stress Isn't Always a Good Bedfellow But

**Chapter 5**

**Stress Is Not Always A Good Bedfellow But…**

Since it was taking longer than they anticipated getting pregnant the couple figured they might as well get some more work done now so that if and when they saw that much awaited for positive pregnancy test they could have lighter schedules during the pregnancy and after the baby was born. Jade jumped on premiering one of her plays in London and Beck took a role in a movie that was being filmed in Vancouver. The minor chore that sex had become combined with the fear of not getting pregnant had put some strain in their marriage. Both Beck and Jade, in an effort to spare the feelings of the other, kept the nagging worry that they would not have a child to themselves. Jade was also a bit more irritable since going off the pill. The rise in stress had led to a few more fights than usual making their communication suffer. The fact that they would both soon be in different counties wasn't helping. Many Hollywood couples faltered when it came to the long hours and distance that were the norm in show business. Early on in their careers Beck and Jade had struggled, like any couple would, with these issues, not to mention overly "friendly" fans and media scrutiny. However, Beck and Jade learned to deal with these circumstances and it strengthened their relationship. If they were dealing with distance they tried to keep it to a minimum and would take a red eye to get to one another even if it were only for a day or two and in the meantime skype and facetime were their most valuable resources. So, Beck and Jade knew that as they would soon be separated by thousands of miles they would need to lay down their burdens and have a proper good bye. They also both hoped that the distance would provide some perspective and if only temporarily would lift their worries about getting pregnant.

Before Beck and Jade went their separate ways for work Beck had to leave town for a few days to go to Vancouver. He was also a producer in the film and was to sit in on some casting sessions.

"Beck did you even watch the YouTube links I emailed you about how to pack your suitcase while maximizing space in it," Jade nagged as she walked into their bedroom and took a peak at Beck's open suitcase.

"I have also, numerous times might I add, demonstrated."

"Babe, hear me ok, I'm not good at packing and it's my suitcase so why don't you not worry about it and go write or something," Beck said trying to distract her.

"I can't write because I can't concentrate because I feel all blah and extra angry because I'll be starting my period any minute because I'm off the pill and not pregnant yet and when the maid cleaned the french doors she left them all streaky. I hate streaky glass," Jade complained.

"Sweetie, how about you go lay down, I'll being you a snack, and I'll talk to the maid," the desperate husband offered.

"No, you are always taking the maid's side and if you keep it up I will fire her," Jade said raising her voice.

"Are you like in love with her?"

"What, did I walk out of our closet and back into high school?" Beck argued back.

Jade walked away and locked herself in her office for the rest of the day.

She did however accept the chocolate marshmallow cookies Beck had brought her as he kissed her on the chick and gave her some much needed space.

Meanwhile, Beck spoke to the maid. He found her on her hands and knees combing the fringe on the dining room rug. Jade ran a very tight ship and it was up to Beck to intervene so they would not have to constantly hire new maids or piss the maid off and she in turn sold a story to the tabloids. Beck kindly asked her to reclean the French doors and he also apologized on behalf of his wife. He also made a mental note that when Jade was in a better mood he would have to present the idea of giving the maid a raise.

That night Beck and Jade had forgotten all about their prior fight and fell asleep in their bed with the tv still on. At dawn Beck was already up and ready to leave. A car was coming to take him to the airport. He nudged Jade awake to kiss her goodbye. While they had made up the same stresses still weighed them down when Beck returned from his short trip.

It was a few weeks later that Beck realized it had been eight months since they had first started trying to get pregnant. They were both very worried it wasn't going to happen. Worry and tension were at an all time high. Jade had actually demanded an appointment on short term notice with her doctor where she expressed her concern. The doctor told her it was standard to not start proactively worrying until it had been a year. Jade was not pleased with that answer and let the doctor know. The doctor ran some blood tests checking hormonal levels. The results came back as normal for a woman Jade's age and the doctor reassured Jade that she and Beck were doing everything right. If she didn't get pregnant at the one year mark the doctor suggested further tests but that the couple should wait until then as the tests could be rather invasive. Beck was by Jade's side when she got the test results back. He knew that the doctor's advice didn't do much to quell Jade's worries as they didn't really help his either. They just needed to have patience. Afterward, Beck took Jade to her favorite coffee shop and her favorite old book store in an effort to cheer her up. It didn't really help though as for Jade being told to be patient was the equivalent of being told to find the city of Atlantis. Impossible.

"Sorry I wasn't able to cheer you up," Beck told Jade when they walked through their front door.

"Well, it's a near impossible job," Jade told Beck as she embraced him.

"You don't have anything else planned?"

Beck slightly chuckled before saying," Usually, I would give you some sex but that's kind of related to our problem."

A smile found it's way onto Jade's face as she stated, "Well, in that case I think you should take me upstairs and have your way with me."

Beck scooped Jade up into his arms and the sound of them ascending the stairs was all that could be heard.

The situation Beck and Jade were in concerning trying to have a baby had certainly been a learning experience. The Oliver's learned that sometimes trying to get the job done in a timeframe was inconvenient and added stress to the couple. It also took away romance and spontaneity. However, there were times when the timeframe was taken as a challenge and not an inconvenience.

"Hey, babe I'm finally home," Jade called out as she ascended the stairs.

"Editor problems?" Beck guessed from his place on the living room couch.

"That meeting took forever. I don't know why my editor thinks she can just change my work. I'm going to go change really quick while you put your suitcase in my car and I'll take you to the airport right after the party. I hope Cat and Robbie didn't hire any lame magicians or zoo keepers again," Jade said as she rushed about her bedroom getting ready.

"Well, it's a Japanese theme with lots of karaoke but knowing those two there may be Japanese animals," Beck explained before grabbing his suitcase and heading downstairs.

At about half way downstairs Jade appeared on the landing shouting, "You remember to pack everything? Didn't forget your socks like last time?"

"Yes," Beck shouted back up, "I used your helpful packing list."

He was leaving for Vancouver to shoot a movie and Jade was leaving a few days later to premiere a play in London and Dublin.

At the party the couple was surrounded by origami (which Jade and Tori had spent yesterday folding), sushi, paper lanterns, Bonsai trees, and Hello Kitty. Robbie had obviously used Google when planning the party.

Jade and Tori had just finished singing a karaoke version of a song when Cat bombarded the two women with a hug.

"Thank you two so much for the song!" Cat exclaimed.

"Anytime," Tori said as Cat released them and Jade clenched her side.

It didn't matter how much older Cat got her hugs still felt like a suma wrestler putting you in a death grip.

"Hey, Kitty! I'm gonna sing a song next and it's dedicated to you," Robbie shouted.

"Ta ta girls."

"I'm gonna get a drink. You want one?"

"No, I'm taking Beck to the airport soon."

"Oh, yeah. Come say goodbye before you two leave."

As Jade made her way through the crowd her husband Sinjin said hello but Jade ignored him. After all these years, she still wasn't rid of that creep. She was mortified when Robbie announced that he was working with Sinjin and Burf. It was bad enough that she still hung out with Robbie. And yes, Sinjin was still a creep and stalked Jade. But since he was an industry insider his stalking seemed like an aware business man and not a creepy nerd. Yeah right.

The sounds of Robbie doing Karaoke filled the air and it was apparent that he had already had too much Japanese liquor.

Andre was standing next to Beck as Jade came up and looped her arm through Beck's.

"I swear, no exaggeration, he resang that one line a hundred times. Ninety nine percent of the time it sounded exactly the same. He also insisted on having some sort of Russian tea. Why a Brazilian dude from the Bronx got into Russian tea, I'll never know. That's a story for another time," Andre said finishing up the story he was relaying to Beck

"Hey, where's Tor?"

"She went to get a drink."

"I could use one too and we got to talk some shop. See you two when you get back to town," Andre said giving the couple a brief hug and making his way to the drinks.

"Hey," Beck greeted his wife smiling, "Your song was excellent as always."

Jade smiled and briefly looked around them.

"Beck I'm ovulating today," Jade whispered.

"We should leave the party a little earlier so we can go home, have sex, and then I'll take you to the airport," Jade planned.

"Let's get some more food then say our goodbyes and leave."

"Sounds like a plan," Beck said as he patted his wife on the behind.

Jade took Beck's hand and started leading them through the crowd towards the dining room where the food was set out when they were suddenly stopped by Cat.

"You should try this Japanese dessert thingy. It is muy delicioco," Cat exclaimed as she shoved a piece into Beck's mouth with one hand and then made her way to Jade.

"First of all, muy delicioso is Spanish and secondly don't shove food at us."

"Sorry and I know it's Spanish silly."

Cat then pranced off and Beck and Jade filled their plate. When they turned around Trina Vega popped up in front of them.

"Hey, pals. Jade I love the outfit. It is like rocker girl chic. Beck you're looking as handsome as ever."

Trina then winked at Beck thinking that Jade would not see it.

Beck stared at his shoes tired of Trina's behavior while Jade took a deep breath before going off on the aging former reality star.

"I'm standing right here and you think I'm not going to notice you winking at my husband. You're winking looks stupid by the way. You don't have to open your mouth as if you're taking a bite of an apple. Also, what do you want?"

"Well, I don't really want anything. Just being friendly. I did however want you two to know that I have just been cast in a new realta show about former realta stars. My season of Celebrities Get In Shape was a smashing success so it secured me a spot in this new show. Anyhoo, I start filming next month so whenever we all hang you'll have to sign a release form but just pretend the cameras aren't there. Oh, there's Abel Richards," Trina said as she walked away readjusting her cleavage. (realta is reality I spelled it wrong to show how Trina pronounces it)

"That's great information to know since we hang out with Trina so much," Beck said with his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Why can't we be rid of her?"

"On the bright side now that she has a job she'll be asking us for work less."

Before Beck and Jade could even move their feet an industry "friend" stopped them to try to get them to invest in his next project, Cat's brother stopped by to tell them about his latest adventure to San Francisco, the young star of Robbie's tv show came by to introduce herself (looking for an industry friend to help her make gains in the business), Cat's grandma came by pinching Beck on the cheeks, a designer Cat worked with came by to talk to them about her latest environmental campaign asking them to get in on the ground floor, and another industry insider came over to tell them about his latest script that could be the next big thing if only someone with pull would back it. Then Beck and Jade made their way to the sitting room, where Cat and Robbie were, to say goodbye. Since they would not see their friends for a while Cat made it a long goodbye. A very long goodbye.

Beck and Jade walked a few more feet and they were met with the doorway of the sitting room and the foyer, where the front door and the stairs were located, when Tori and her husband came over to them.

"So I see Trina was just talking to you guys earlier. I assume she told you all about her new "realta" show."

"Yep. You know Tori, Trina wouldn't be in our lives after all these years if not for you."

"I can't help that I'm related to her. Last Christmas I gave her the gift I had gotten her early, a cruise to Tahiti just so I wouldn't have to spend the holidays with her. She didn't get it. Our parents were okay with it. They even gave he some spending money."

"When I married Tori I gained Trina as a family member," James lamented before he took a big gulp of his drink.

"That's how I know James really loves me. He married me in spite of Trina. I actually had three guys that ended things with me by saying," It's not you. It's your sister."

"So are you two leaving?"

"Yeah, we're on our way out.

The four exchanged goodbyes and hugs and promised to meet up sometime.

Beck looked at his watch and sighed. They wouldn't have time to go home.

"Meet me in the upstairs bathroom in two minutes," Jade whispered to her husband in front of a giant Hello Kitty wearing a birthday hat.

"Remember last time we had sex in a bathroom during a party and we said it would be the last time because we were moving in together and we were adults and wouldn't have to sneak around," Beck reminded Jade of the conversation they had a little over a decade ago.

"Well, some things never change and I think I'm ok with that," Beck explained.

Jade slipped up the stairs and Beck followed a minute later.

After a knock on the bathroom door it opened to reveal his wife as she grabbed him by the collar pulling him into the bathroom and slamming him into the door as it shut. He didn't have time to notice that they would be having sex in front of a picture of a cat wearing a pink tutu. Beck quickly took the control as he lifted Jade onto the counter and hitched up her dress. Jade's hands were on his back pockets when she pulled out a piece of paper.

She pulled away to read Trina's phone number.

"Why do you have Trina's number in your back pocket?"

"What? How did that get there?" Beck stated taking the paper from Jade's hands.

"Trina's good. I didn't even feel her slip it in my pocket."

"I didn't even see it happen and I always notice when women or men get too close to your personal space."

They both shrugged and Jade took it out of Beck's hands ripping the paper in half and tossing it into the trashcan to her left as they resumed their kiss.

As Beck kissed the spot on Jade's neck that made her go weak her underwear soon came off and his zipper went down with Jade remarking," We must be really good at sex if we don't get completely turned off by that picture of the cat wearing…" she never finished the sentence because Beck knew how to make her speechless.

After putting their clothes back in place, straightening their hair, and Jade touching up her makeup Jade made her way downstairs with Beck following a few minutes later. They then grabbed their coats and left the party that was still long from over.

"That was nice. I mean we had to get it done but the spontaneity of it was nice," Beck said to his wife as he opened the passenger side door for her.

She smirked. "Yeah, it was good and just what we needed before we have to go our separate ways."

_Thanks for reading. What did you like not like? Tell me in a review. In the next chapter Beck and Jade are reunited after working in separate countries. They get to spend some time alone together and they spend some time with Beck's family in Canada. How would you like the interaction between Jade and Beck's family to go?_


	6. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

**Chapter 6**

**Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder**

Beck had been in Vancouver shooting a movie and Jade had been in London getting one of her plays, "The Darkest Hope" situated on the stage for its London debut. She also spent some time in Dublin getting the play off the ground for its debut there as well. After a little over a month apart, in which they only saw each other for one long weekend each flying to New York, the city was a half-way point between them, they were finally reunited in a cabin outside of Vancouver. The cabin in the Canadian countryside was first visited by the couple shortly after Beck's first starring studio movie role had made him a certified star. Their dreams were coming true and the future was within their grasp. The couple had been busy and as Beck had been a newly famous actor and Jade a burgeoning screenwriter and playwright the couple had taken a week out of their busy schedules to spend some time with only each other. Now, the couple was revisiting the cabin. This time they came to the cabin as a busy and successful couple that had to schedule time for each other and were unsure of what their once mapped out future looked like. Luckily, Beck and Jade weren't angsty teenagers anymore and after a little time and perspective whatever issues they were having would come to light and they could solve their problems. Being back at the cabin alone in their own little world for ten days was the perfect opportunity for them to come clean with each other and reconnect.

Beck had finished shooting two days earlier. Before Jade was set to join him he devoted a day to catching up with a few family members. He then rented a car and went grocery shopping so he could stock the cabin he and Jade had rented. All that was left to do was pick up Jade from the airport. After the hour long car ride from the airport to the cabin Jade realized she had never been so happy to be in Canada.

"I'm glad you're here. It's too cold to sleep alone here,"Beck shared as he embraced his wife.

They had just entered the cabin, which hadn't changed since the last time they had been there. A jet lagged Jade climbed onto the bed immediately with Beck following behind.

"Yeah, I missed my personal heater too," Jade offered as she cuddled into Beck's side.

"Did you get any sleep on the plane?"

"I nodded off a few times but I can never really sleep on a plane. I need to get up and take a shower. I have plane on me. Why did you let me lay down?"

"You can shower in the morning," Beck said sitting up and taking off his wife's shoes.

"I need to at least get up and brush my teeth. Pull me up."

After the couple got ready for bed and settled into each other's arms sleep did not come to Jade even though she couldn't keep her eyes open.

"Babe, you alright?" Beck asked after being evoked by her tossing and turning.

"Yeah. I guess my sleep schedule's all messed up with all these time zones."

"Anything else?" Beck questioned as he twirled a strand of Jade's hair around his finger.

A moment later Jade spoke up sharing, "It's just back to reality."

The time apart had allowed her to reflect and think about everything that was going wrong, what she could do to make it better, and that she knew she didn't have to share this burden alone, although that was difficult for her to accept. She knew she needed to share. It would be the only thing to calm her anxious heart.

In the quiet of the woods in the cozy cabin with the wind softly rustling the trees outside Jade expressed her worries and fears.

"I'm really worried about not getting pregnant yet. What if we waited too long and I'm too old now? What if because we were being responsible all these years by waiting and being safe now we're being punished?" Jade confessed.

"Babe, you just turned thirty six. You're not too old. I know it's taking longer than we expected and there have been moments that I've worried too. It's natural for us to worry but we can't let it come between us. No matter what happens we'll get through it just like we've gotten through everything else, together. Whatever comes we will deal with it," Beck reassured Jade.

"I know I just get impatient and forget sometimes," Jade replied.

"Well, we just need to remind each other," Beck explained intertwining their hands.

"I've been watching too much daytime television because they're constantly talking about infertility and what if I do get pregnant but the baby is a hermaphrodite? I get stressed out because it's almost been a year. And then if I do get pregnant after the baby is born there's so much to worry about like autism, SIDS, diaper rashes, the paparazzi, kidnappings, and Cat and your mother putting all pink on our daughter. Also, scheduled sex is kind of weird but not good weird. I mean it's still great but doing it with an actual purpose in a timeframe is kind of stressful and sometimes inconvenient. What are we going to do if the baby's a hermaphrodite or has an extra finger?" Jade stated laying all of her worries out.

"Let's revise our plan. Let's go back to unscheduled who knows if you're ovulating or not sex for the time being. If nothing happens in a few months then we'll decide what step to take next. Cool it on the daytime television. Now what are the statistics of having a hermaphrodite or kid with an extra finger?" the usually calm man asked.

"It's ok babe. The odds are low and whatever happens we'll figure it out," Jade calmly stated.

The couple slept soundly that night and awoke the next morning long after the sun had risen feeling more relieved than they had in a while.

"It is so cold here," the LA native remarked as she passed through the door to their cabin after returning from a walk.

Immediately Beck started a fire in the fireplace and took the wood Jade was holding in her gloved covered hands.

"Hurry up so you can come warm me up," Jade demanded as she sat on the bed taking off her shoes.

Beck took his own coat, scarf, and hat off making his way over to his wife. As she stood he unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and used it to pull her closer and kiss her. Then one by one he slowly divested her of her clothing and laid her down on the bed. They made love and left their worries miles away while the cold wind picked up outside leaving them in the safe confides of each other's arms.

Beck and Jade spent the rest of their vacation held up in the little cabin in front of the fireplace. They watched movies, perfected their poker skills, played Scrabble, took walks, and some days they barely even got out of bed as they were too busy being wrapped up in each other. Beck once again earned the nickname, my little lumberjack, from Jade as it was quite the sight to see him bring in the firewood wearing his beloved plaid. There worries were kept at bay and they were able to get some much needed rest and time to themselves.

At the end of the trip they headed to the city to visit Beck's family. They stayed at Beck's grandparent's house that was in a nice middle class neighborhood. In all the times Beck had been back since moving to California his grandparent's home had remained the same and held true to his memory. The guest bedroom he had always stayed in had plaid wallpaper and dark wood furnishings. The hallway was lined with picture after picture of family members, and his grandmother always made everyone's favorite dishes.

Since Beck and Jade had gotten married his family had started to become more welcoming towards Jade. That meant that they more or less treated Jade like furniture. But like a really nice couch, an antique couch. One you treated nicely, occasionally bragged on but you didn't touch it or mess with it. Jade was pleased with the development and didn't mind at all. She was more than fine holding limited conversations with the Canadian clan and keeping them at a distance. Everything was going well and stress had been kept to a minimum until the Oliver women started doing what they do best, being nosey. Jade was conforming to the time honored tradition of helping the women in the kitchen while the men watched hockey, shopped for more plaid, or went bear hunting or whatever it is that Canadian men do. Whenever, there are multiple generations of women in the kitchen one thing is sure to follow, baby talk.

"Jade when are ya gonna have a baby, eh?"

"Are ya just gonna focus on ya career and never have a child, I mean I could never imagine doin that but some women do these days, eh?"

Awkwardly, Beck's 95 year old grandmother had stated that Jade had great hips for child bearing. Hips that could bear a small militia if need be. She had been admonished for saying that by the other women but Jade wasn't that shocked by the statement as the woman had first said it to her when she was sixteen. Although, bearing the small militia part was new. In the past Jade would have told them to mind their own damn business. However, after having been an Oliver for a decade she knew how to deal with the Oliver women.

So Jade put on a small smile and said, "Do you ladies want to talk to my gynecologist and my agent? Anyways, I think the better question is when is Patrick going to pop the question to Mary?"

Jade had learned that it was ok to say something the Oliver's would consider off color if you quickly redirected them in a new direction. Preferably, in a direction that involved gossip concerning marriage and babies, as long as it was directed at another family member besides Jade and Beck. Jade knew Mary didn't really mind anyways as Beck's younger cousin used every opportunity possible to talk about her bright exciting future that she would hopefully be spending as Mrs. Patrick O'Conner if he would ever get on one knee that is.

By the end of the trip the couple was more than ready to go home. In fact, when they finally got home after not one but two flight delays the first thing Jade did was head for her big cozy bed and Beck wasn't too far behind.

_Thanks for reading and please review, tell me what you liked, what you hated, or what you want to happen next. The next update will be soon (this week), that's a guarantee._

_Preview for Ch 7: Sorry, no preview. I couldn't find a sentence that wouldn't give anything away._


	7. At Last

**Chapter 7**

**At Last**

Since coming back from Vancouver Jade had felt a little off. At first she attributed it to jet lag but it didn't go away after a few days. In fact, the strange feeling she had sort of came and went. The thought of pregnancy had of course crossed her mind but she didn't let herself entertain the thought. However, when her period was late she nervously took a test, well three tests.

She couldn't believe her eyes, before her sat three positive pregnancy tests on the bathroom counter. Jade knew from algebra that two positives made a positive so she felt reassured that three positives were even better. A smile found its way upon Jade's face. Relief flooded her mind and heart. There was just one thing left to do, tell her husband. Months ago, the first time Jade had taken a pregnancy test; Beck had been by her side. In fact, she had him read the results to her. But after so many negative tests she had failed to include him. She didn't want him to be disappointed although she knew that he would've wanted to be by her side. Currently, he was at his parent's house helping his father remodel a bathroom. Now, Jade had to decide how to tell Beck the good news.

"Hey, babe dinner smells good but I thought I was suppose to cook it tonight." Beck stated as he walked into the kitchen and gave his wife a kiss hello.

"I figured you would probably be kind of late helping your dad and I didn't want to eat too late. You can do the dishes by yourself though. It's meatless lasagna," Jade informed her husband," I know you'll probably miss the meat but you shouldn't eat red meat all the time."

Jade believed that but she also just wasn't feeling meat lately.

"I'll live. I'm gonna go take a shower before dinner."

"Oh, good", Jade exclaimed.

If Beck took a shower than Jade didn't have to tell him the news or make up some lame excuse to get him to go into the master bathroom, he could see for himself as the tests were still on the counter.

"Do I smell?" Beck questioned.

"No, just dinner will be ready soon so now would be a good time to shower before we eat," Jade tried to explain.

Beck seemed to buy Jade's excuse and made his way upstairs. Jade quietly followed him and stood outside their bathroom door. Suddenly Beck walked through the doorway looking a combination of shocked, surprised, and very happy as he wrapped his arms around his wife.

"You're pregnant."

"Yeah, according to three tests I am, which might have been a bit over kill but you know how I am. I talked myself out of going to the store to buy more tests," Jade rambled off until Beck silenced her with a kiss.

"We're gonna have a baby. Finally," Jade expressed as her eyes filled with tears.

Beck's face broke out into the biggest smile Jade had ever seen as they stood embraced in the doorway until the timer on Jade's cell phone rang signaling that dinner was done. Beck's shower was long forgotten as he and Jade walked downstairs with their arms around each other.

"Do you feel okay? Do you need to lay down or anything?"

"I feel fine. Calm down. I'm having a baby not becoming one. Women have done all kinds of things while pregnant and not lying down. They've run fortune five hundred companies, competed in the Olympics, run marathons, flown airplanes, and swam the English Channel."

"You're obviously feeling fine. Good news is I don't have to worry about you swimming the English Channel. You hate water and sea creatures. And you're not too fond of Europeans either."

"The ocean is terrible. We should leave it be. And they're just all up in my personal space and constantly talking to me, like I don't know you stranger, and they walk slow."

"Alright, let's just eat mon amour."

_(Author's note: I think Europeans and their lifestyle seem cool. I'd love to visit. I think I might not want to come back though :) I just feel like Jade wouldn't like the friendliness some Europeans are known for)._

Later that night as Beck and Jade pulled back the covers of their bed and crawled inside they talked of the future. It felt so good to once again have something to look forward to, to have their worries lifted, and know what the next phase of their lives would look like. Beck hadn't stopped smiling since he had learned that Jade was pregnant and even the always serious Jade had a smile on her face that hadn't left.

"Do you feel okay?" Beck asked after hearing Jade sigh heavily.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I've been exhausted since we got home. Growing a human being is exhausting. "

"Other than that you feel okay?"

"Yeah, every once in a while I feel weird. Like there's something invasive within me, which now makes sense."

"So thus far, growing a human being feels like something is invading your body? Are you sure it's human?"

"That's the best way to describe it and I certainly hope it is human."

"So if the baby's a girl which shade of pink will we paint the nursery?" Beck asked Jade although he already had a pretty good idea as to what her answer would be.

"Seriously, which shade of pink, could you be anymore predictable and cliché?" Jade said as though she were disgusted.

"What are you going to ask next, "Which Disney theme should we choose?"

Beck couldn't help but let out a chuckle, which earned him a jab in the chest from Jade's elbow.

"Why do you always have to act all serious and get me riled up?" Jade asked as she rolled over to face her husband.

"You just make it so easy," Beck exclaimed.

"So what color and theme are you thinking about because I'm sure you've already got an idea?"

"Well, green is good for either a boy or girl, I like purple for a girl, and black, white, and red I hear are good colors for a nursery because babies respond well to those three colors. I just think blue and pink is predictable. As for theme, I was thinking more along the lines of using a children's author for inspiration."

"Sounds good, you could put those art skills to use and paint a mural or something too."

"Yeah," Jade agreed.

"We've still got a long time to go before we do any of that stuff," Jade said.

"Yeah, but there's going to be three of us before we know it. You're going to have to learn how to share me," Beck said with a smile.

Jade rolled her eyes making sure that Beck had seen her act.

"We'll take him or her camping, teach the kid soccer, show them the world, read Alice in Wonderland, introduce the kid to Toy Story, and figure out if I can deal with the kid's temper tantrums like I approach yours," Beck listed.

The last comment earned him another jab from Jade.

"Alright, what's your list of stuff you want to teach and experience with future baby Oliver."

"Introduce the Wizard of Oz, read Winnie the Pooh not the Disney versions the actual books by AA Milne, watch the AFI's 100 best movies, and The Scissoring," Jade shared in between yawns.

"From Winnie the Pooh to The Scissoring, sounds about right," Beck chuckled amused.

"Get some sleep. Good night babe," Beck said kissing the now mother of his unborn child goodnight as she rolled over pulling his arm around herself.

_So, how was it? What do you want to happen next? How do you think Jade's first trimester will go? _

_Preview of Chapter 8: Although Jade wouldn't admit it Beck once caught her sitting at the kitchen bar over a  
coffee scented candle tearing up. _


	8. First Trimester

**Chapter 8**

**First Trimester**

**4 Weeks**

It had only been a few days since Jade and Beck found out they were expecting. They were excited, scared, and nervous. Jade had already called her doctor for an appointment which was scheduled for the eight week mark. Now they were just anxiously awaiting that appointment thinking they would feel less nervous as it would be more official. So far things had been going well. Jade occasionally felt nauseous. Sometimes she just felt strange, which she assumed was due to growing a human. And other times she felt suddenly and spontaneously exhausted. Thus far, pregnancy had been a whirlwind of emotions and Jade was "barely even pregnant", which was the phrase she had used to describe her current circumstances to Beck.

While Jade certainly felt the changes inside Beck could also see the changes. One day when they were shopping downtown for a birthday gift for his mother through Jade's behavior Beck could tell that pregnant Jade was going to be an interesting journey.

"Aww, look at that baby!" Jade exclaimed.

Beck was startled. He looked at Jade and then in the direction she was facing and saw the baby she was looking at. The most Jade had ever expressed towards a baby's appearance was to say, "He's pretty cute," and usually that was only directed towards babies the couple knew. Beck knew Jade liked babies and would be a great mom because she was nurturing. While she didn't always express it through words Beck could tell by her actions. So it was very odd for Jade to get excited over a stranger's baby.

Later that night as Beck and Jade sat on the couch watching a movie he put his arm around her. He did it without thinking as physical contact between them second nature, it just happened. Jade made a face showing her disgust, sighed, and moved over a few inches. Beck didn't say anything about it but the though, "What is happening to my wife," occupied his mind.

**5 Weeks**

"Hey, what are you making me for dinner?" Jade asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"I'm making you chicken, rice, and…..," Beck started saying as he turned around and noticed Jade was missing.

"Jade," Beck called out.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to eat that," Jade coming from the downstairs bathroom and making her way to the living room couch.

"The smell of the chicken, not a good idea. Well, I'm definitely pregnant."

"I'll fix you something else. What do you think you can eat?" Beck asked sitting beside his wife rubbing her arm.

"Ask me in about ten minutes. Make it fifteen."

Five Minutes Later

"Beck," Jade called out. "Beck!"

"Yeah," Beck said reentering the room.

"So, what should I have to eat?"

"You're feeling better?"

"I wouldn't want to eat dinner if I didn't feel better."

"Umm, noodles."

"Yeah, bowtie noodles with parmesan cheese and I want something colorful too."

"Something colorful, a salad?"

"No."

"Fruit?" Beck suggested.

"Fruit, with noodles. No," Jade stated in a tone letting Beck know he should know better.

"What about a tomato with some cheese and dressing on it?"

"That's practically a salad."

"Do you want some kind of vegetable?"

"Eww, no."

"Just give me some bowties and eat something else later," Jade said.

"Ok," Beck said but hesitated leaving in case Jade changed her mind again. She gave him a slight glare and he then decided to take his chances and left to fix his already picky, moody, and pregnant wife dinner.

**6 Weeks**

"Babe, I'm going to go meet my dad now," Beck said as he entered the bedroom.

"Ok," Jade said looking a bit flushed from where she was lying on the bed.

"You feeling sick?" Beck asked in a concerned tone.

"Not really. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Beck asked not buying it.

"Yeah."

"Jade?"

"Will you stay for a little bit? You could reschedule with your dad in a few hours or something?"

"Ok," Beck said knowing Jade must really want him to stay.

Beck got in bed next to Jade and she cuddled into his side.

"Really, I feel fine. I think I've just freaked myself out more than anything. I'm spotting a little bit, which is totally normal. "I'm just….nervous."

"Would you feel better if you went to the doctor or called your mom or Cat or Tori since they've been pregnant before?" Beck asked.

"Spotting is normal this early in pregnancy. I think we should wait a little bit. Waiting is just hard. And I still want to wait to tell everyone. We should tell our moms together anyway," Jade said in a low voice.

"Ok. It's going to be ok. I love you," Beck said pulling Jade closer and bringing his lips to her forehead.

**7 Weeks **

"I think I'm done now, I hope," Jade said as she came out of the bathroom after a severe bout of morning sickness.

"I think my spirit is dead. All my life force has been sucked from me. What if I'm pregnant with something that's not human? I mean I did become this way in Canada."

"I think you just need some sleep," Beck said trying not to laugh at her comments.

He felt awful seeing her sick but she seemed a little out of her mind.

Beck with his arms around Jade walked her to their bed and pulled down the covers.

"Do want covers?" Beck asked as he sat on the edge of the bed after Jade laid down.

"Sheet," Jade weakly responded.

"Stay with me."

"Ok," Beck responded walking to the other side of the bed and slipping in.

He soothingly rubbed his wife's back as she fell asleep.

**8 Weeks **

"It was the fresh Canadian air. Just admit it babe, "Beck gloated on the car ride home from the doctor.

Jade had just had her first appointment and they had been told the official date of conception. That date was when the couple had been in Canada, their second day there. Jade had silently known all along that they had conceived in Canada but felt no need to share the unfortunate fact. Beck being a guy had never even wondered when they conceived until the doctor was going over the date of conception. Jade was mortified but appreciated Beck waiting until they got to the car before he began to gloat.

"You better be glad that you're the father and I don't need to pull one over on you. It would be so easy," Jade stated as she put on her sunglasses.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that we obviously conceived in Canada, eight weeks ago. For one thing until we met up in Canada at the cabin we hadn't even seen each other in two weeks. Also since we were trying to get pregnant I kept good track of things so it's not like I'm one of those girls that just thinks they gained a little weight," Jade explained.

"Well, like you said, you were the one keeping track."

"So when are we going to tell people and who will we tell?" Beck asked from the driver's seat.

"I don't know. How do we tell people, just come out and say it? I hate telling people stuff. Good news is so awkward. I feel like everyone's going to be really surprised. I can see the headlines now, The Ice Queen has a Baby," Jade said with disappointment in her voice.

"Babe, we've been married for a decade and we were passionate hormonal teenagers once upon time. As for people we know I don't think anyone is going to be surprised. I think they're surprised we were never featured on 16 and Pregnant. As for people we don't know I don't care what any headline says and we're on like every celebrity baby bump watch list. My grandmother and mother love to remind me of that fact," Beck explained.

"Well, I'll leave telling people up to you. It's only fair you to experience the joy of telling others since I get to experience the joy of pregnancy," Jade said her voice dripping in sarcasm.

I'd love to tell Cat but she's going to freak out. She'll probably want to get pregnant herself. Cat still can't keep a secret and if we tell Cat then…..,"Jade said, "We have to tell the others," Beck said picking up Jade's train of thought.

"It would be easiest if we could tell all our friends at once," Beck added, "But Tori is on tour and Andre is all over the place."

"I think Tori is going to be back from tour a few weeks from now. I'm sure everyone is going to want to get together since it has been a while. We can tell all of our friends then," Jade suggested as Beck pulled into the garage.

"That sounds like a good plan. Now what about our family?" Beck asked.

"Let's just invite them all over and tell them," Jade suggested.

"You mean I will tell them?"

"Yes."

"You need anything?" Beck asked Jade as he unlocked the door and Jade turned off the alarm system.

"Yeah, will you get me some godforsaken caffeine free ice tea and I could go for some peaches. Fresh not canned."

"Ok, why don't you go lay down and I'll bring it up to you," Beck gently suggested. Their appointment was at 7:30 a.m. before the other patients arrived in an effort to keep their pregnancy secret.

"I will but only because I'm tired and sore," Jade said as she made her way upstairs.

Minutes later Beck made his way upstairs, "Here you go babe," Beck said handing Jade some tea and crackers.

She was in bed flipping through tv channels.

"You wanna stay?" Jade asked grabbing Beck's arm when he had turned to leave.

"Yeah," Beck said as he walked over to the other side of the bed and moved closer to Jade while she put her head on his shoulder.

It wasn't before too long that Jade could barely keep her eyes open.

"Lay down and go to sleep," Beck whispered.

Jade laid down as did Beck with his arm around her.

"Good day?" Beck asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, even though it's only 9:45 a.m.," Jade pointed out.

Beck saw the sonogram photo on Jade's bedside table and reached over her to grab it. He then held it where they both could see it.

"I'm glad we were able to do the sonogram and heart beat today," Jade voiced.

"Yeah, it makes it so much more official or real for lack of better term," Beck added.

"A big relief," Jade added.

The in between Jade taking a home pregnancy test and seeing the doctor had been a happy time but also stressful at times. Jade had some slight bleeding, which she knew was normal but it still worried the couple so it was a great relief to see the doctor and hear and see their baby.

Soon Jade was asleep and Beck followed as since she hadn't been able to sleep much lately he hadn't gotten much rest either.

**9 Weeks**

Beck and Jade invited Jade's mom and Beck's parents to their house for dinner. Beck was in charge of fixing the salad before the guests arrived and Jade and the moms fixed eggplant parmesan for dinner while the guys tinkered on Beck's car. Luckily, Jade was feeling very energized which was a welcome relief because in her words she had lately felt like a "zombie that drank a lot of water' or a "barely conscience person with an alien life force draining their life energy." Pregnancy certainly hasn't drained her creativity.

After Beck and Jade had been married for a few years Beck's parents had seemed to finally become comfortable with the relationship. It seemed that with a few years of marriage under their belts they were finally taken seriously. Now, that Beck and Jade had been married for a decade things were no longer tense or awkward. Beck's dad even joked about how Jade once sent a dog to attack him. Jade's mom and Beck's parents got along very well so they all had dinner together about once a month or so. They would take turns eating at each other's houses. One time the women would get together in the kitchen and cook and next it was the men's turn to prepare the meal, which almost always involved grilling. For some unknown reason it seemed to be a law of nature that when men did the cooking they either grilled or made breakfast.

As dinner was finished cooking everyone was gathered in the kitchen after having taken the dishes from the kitchen to the dining room when Jade gave Beck the signal to tell their parents the news before everyone made their way back to the dining room and sat down to eat.

Beck and Jade had both discussed how best to tell their parents the news. They were both uncomfortable informing others of exciting news, it just wasn't their thing. Jade hated doing so even more than Beck so she stuck him with the job.

Beck decided to just say it, well to show them. Beck had probably checked to ensure the picture was safe in his back pocket about every thirty seconds as he feared spoiling the surprise. So with Jade by his side he pulled the picture out and held it in front of himself.

A chorus of gasps and oh my gods and finally's were heard.

"So how far along are you," Beck's mom, Carol, asked after things had calmed down and the family sat down for dinner.

"Nine weeks," Jade answered.

"This is so exciting," Jade's mom stated wiping a few tears from her eyes which made Jade very uncomfortable.

"Don't start crying again you'll get me going to," Carol told Jade's mom, Evelyn.

"Those two," Beck dad declared with a chuckle.

"We're going to be grandmothers!" Carol exclaimed as though she was realizing it for the first time since the announcement.

"We have to decide what we're going to be called: grandma, granny, gran," Evelyn told Carol.

"I'm thinking one of you should be memaw," Jade declared looking very serious but clearly joking.

"Good thing we have a long time to figure this out," Beck added.

"Unless Jade teaches the baby to call one of you ladies meemaw," Beck's dad warned.

"I might just have to do that," Jade added.

"When you're ready to start the nursery I'll help you," Beck's dad James told his son.

He was super into DIY projects lately.

Sitting at the dinner table sharing their good news Jade could feel a shift in the air.

Since the news broke Jade sensed that it would lead to Beck's parents appreciating her more, as she was giving them a grandchild. It felt like a weight had been lifted and their relationship felt much more natural.

The next day Jade knew she had to complete an unfortunate task, telling her father. Jade called her father's office and his secretary informed her that he was on a business trip. Over the phone is also the method Jade used about a decade ago to tell her father she was getting married.

Jade took a deep breath and called her father.

"Hello, it's Jade."

"Hello, Jade."

"So you're on a business trip, where?"

"Phoenix. I'm restructuring the legal end of the company here."

"Oh, well I thought I'd call to catch you up on things since you're out of town for the next few days. So, um I'm pregnant. I'm due in October."

"Oh, well congratulations. I didn't know if you were interested in having children with your career and all. Congratulations to you and Beck."

"Yes, thank you. I'll pass it along," Jade replied as Beck walked into the room.

"Yes, well I'll have to have my secretary call you soon and we can go to dinner," Richard responded as the conversation came to a close.

"We'll have to do that, have your secretary give me a call sometime."

"Goodbye. Have a nice day."

"You too. Bye."

The interaction sounded like a business exchange but Jade was pleased whenever an interaction with her father was void of yelling, disapproving looks, or heavy sighs.

"We're you on the phone with your agent?" Beck asked.

"No my father. I told him about the pregnancy. He was very cordial." Jade explained.

"Oh, good."

"I don't think he'll be wishing for a grandpa coffee mug but at least he knows he's eligible for one,' Jade said.

Beck was not at all surprised that Jade's father was cordial about such big family news. Beck thought back to when he had asked her father for Jade's hand in marriage a decade earlier. Beck didn't really believe her father deserved to be included in this tradition but for tradition's sake he went through with it anyway. Beck's father advised him that it would be a good idea because it would make him feel included and it should make the man respect him. Beck knew that once Jade had found out he had asked her father for his permission she would be mad and that turned out to be true. The conversation between Beck and Richard West had been very awkward.

"_I'm going to ask Jade to marry me soon. I bought the ring and everything," Beck told Richard after the eighteenth hole in a golf game which the older man had won. _

"_Hmm, well you two have been together for quite a while." _

"_Yeah, we're coming up on ten years." _

"_Well, let's head to the clubhouse for a drink. Consider it an early congrats. I'm sure she'll say yes."_

Next, Jade had to tell her little brother and his mother, her ex stepmother, the news. Jade had kept in fairly regular contact with her now ex stepmother since the divorce. Kelly had remarried and she and Ben were doing just fine without Richard West. Richard still had his work and women. And Jade suspected that his night cap had become a friend to him during the lonely nights he was at home. Her father had only kept a slightly better presence in Ben, Jade's brother's, life. Jade's brother Ben was now in his senior year of college and he would soon start med school. Since Ben was away at college at Stanford Jade and Beck decided to video chat with him to tell him the good news.

"Hey," Ben told Beck and Jade when he logged onto skype.

"Hey," Jade said.

"How's it going buddy?" Beck asked.

"Good. All I do these days is study for my classes and study for the MCAT. What are you guys up to?"

"Well, I'm growing a human being," Jade brazenly replied.

Ben looked confused for a second until his face broken out into a smile.

"Is that your way of saying you're pregnant?"

"It is," Jade confirmed.

"Saying you're going to be an uncle is too conventional for your sister."

"I'm not surprised. So when am I going to become an uncle?"

"October," Jade stated, "October 20th."

"So basically a Halloween baby, alright," Ben said smiling.

"I know. It's perfect. You know, besides me you're the only person to realize and appreciate that," Jade said smiling and truth be told she had a few tears in her eyes.

After catching up with her brother Jade called Kelly to tell her. Kelly was very happy for the couple, in fact she was downright mushy. Jade could already imagine the woman patrolling stores for cute baby clothes.

**10 Weeks**

Jade stood in front of her bedroom mirror. She repeatedly turned from side to side. She didn't think she was showing yet but felt a little paranoid that she was showing. She was wearing a rather tight and short green and black lace negligee.

"Crap," Jade stated after hearing the shower turn off.

She moved quickly to sit on the end of the bed. Then she changed her mind and laid down. Then she once again changed her mind and sat against the pillows.

"Maybe I shouldn't be so obvious," Jade thought as she quickly unmade the bed and dove under the covers.

Still not satisfied Jade ran into the walk in closet just as Beck walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm just gonna go with it," Jade thought as she casually walked out of the closet saying, "Hey."

"Hey, there you are," Beck slowly said looking a bit confused by Jade's appearance.

"Aww, you missed."

"Uhh yeah," Beck said sheepishly.

He was very confused by Jade's behavior. For the last week he was scared to even touch her. She would send him dirty looks if he got within a foot of her and now she was wearing THAT outfit slowly walking and getting into their bed and at this very second she was laying on her side with her head on her hand propped up by her elbow and her other hand was making its way to rest upon his chest. Jade then started to kiss his neck and moved her way up to his face as she slipped her hand under his white t shirt. As Jade got closer and closer to Beck's lips his eyes got wider and wider. Suddenly Jade reached his lips and moved her body on top of his. Jade withdrew her lips and looked down at her husband raising an eyebrow. Beck avoided looking her in the eyes. She kissed him again but withdrew and once again looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Beck," Jade said as she moved into a sitting position over her husband.

"Jade."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, are you okay?"

"Well, not too good but my mood could be improved rather easily or I'm going to get a whole lot mad."

"I'm just confused," Beck admitted, "You haven't seemed like you really even wanted me to touch you or be near you or even breathe the same air as you these last few days."

"Well, I feel differently now. I'm more than just someone to have sex with. Sorry if I don't want to constantly do it all the time or even sit near you on the couch."

Unconsciously, Beck moved his hand to Jade's thigh and began rubbing it in a comforting manner.

"I'm sorry I just didn't want to…..," Beck didn't know how to end that sentence without making Jade upset. He didn't want to make her angry, he didn't want her to change her mind, or he was afraid her mood would change quickly. There was no good way to end that sentence so he just kissed her and he rolled her over onto her back hovering over her and whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

One would think that after a successful seduction Jade would be satisfied. She was not. While Beck laid beside her fast asleep Jade was wide awake. Eventually in the wee hours of the morning Jade feel asleep and slept till midmorning.

Later that afternoon Jade wondered into Beck's office and made herself comfortable on his lap.

"Whatcha doing?"

"A little bit of writing, something to keep me busy while I'm not working," Beck explained as Jade's hand rubbed the back of his neck. Based on Jade's behavior last night and her current actions he assumed Jade's normal affectionate side was back, for now at least.

As they began to kiss Jade's hands set to work unbuttoning Beck's blue shirt. Beck, meanwhile, had his hands on Jade's back in a very gentlemanly way. He might as well have been a grandma driving in traffic with his hands at the two and two o'clock position. Jade could feel that Beck was still hesitant so she pulled away raising her eyebrow, "What's going on? Are you cheating on me?"

"No. God, babe, no."

"Then why are you acting so hesitant? You've felt me up more with your parents in the room," Jade said in an accusatory and worried tone.

"I don't know. At first you were usually feeling sick and then you felt better suddenly and I was like what's that about. Then I remember the explanation for these things is that you are pregnant," Beck frantically explained, "And now I can't stop thinking about it."

"We've had sex since we found out I was pregnant."

"Yes, but only a few times and we were in a cloud of happiness over the good news. We weren't thinking clearly."

"So you don't want to have sex while I'm pregnant? You do realize we won't be having sex for close to a year then? I may be in the mood now, which is drastically slipping, but I'm not so sure I will be up for it when I balloon up to the size of a hot air balloon."

"I just need to put the whole, our baby is in there, out of my mind."

"That's why I tried to seduce you last night and I failed. You know, I don't even know how to seduce a man. There are setbacks to having only been with one man. I've never had to try to put on a show and lure a man in. In the past whenever I put on something revealing it was just for fun. You were already up for the sex and I knew what the outcome would be," Jade lamented.

"You know when I do balloon up we'll have to get creative," Jade wondered aloud.

"Hey, we had sex so the seduction worked," Beck added.

"Ahh, you weren't really giving me your a game."

A statement like this brought out the competitive side to Beck.

"You wanna try again?" Beck asked looking Jade in the eye. Jade didn't even answer. She got up and led Beck by hand to their bedroom. She had a little more bounce in her step and Beck's thoughts were only occupied by his gorgeous wife.

The house was silent except for the grandfather clock that had dinged a few times until Jade spoke up, "You know if I wasn't so tired," Jade said with a yawn, "I'd want an encore."

Beck could only let out a smile and think of the expression, "Happy wife. Happy life." It certainly rang true and he was one lucky and happy guy.

**11 Weeks**

While Jade's morning sickness had tampered down as she knew what foods and smells to avoid she was now beginning to get cravings which meant Beck was catering to Jade's every need.

"What are you looking for?" Beck asked as he walked into the kitchen. Jade was standing in the pantry moving things around and there was a trail of food items on the floor leading into the kitchen.

"I'm just looking for something. I wanted some chocolate. But I can't find anything in this pantry."

The truth was that Jade prided herself on having an immaculately organized pantry.

"Well, it looks like we don't have any. Umm, do you want me to go get you some?" Beck cautiously asked.

"I don't want to be any trouble," Jade said in an innocent tone but Beck knew that he better insist on going to the store.

"No, I don't mind I'll go to the store. We need some anyways so no time like the present," Beck stated kissing Jade on the cheek and making his way to the door.

"Get dark chocolate," Jade called out after him.

"I know," Beck shouted back.

Beck had forgotten his cell phone in the kitchen and when he went back to get it he saw Jade sitting in front of a coffee scented candle. It looked like she was tearing up. Beck cleared his throated to announce his presence.

"I forgot my cell."

"Oh, I'm just straightening up the kitchen. I think the maid has everything out of whack," Jade explained trying to make herself look busy.

Beck tried to hide his smile over his wife's antics.

**12 Weeks**

Jade had never operated on much sleep. She loved to stay up late writing but she normally woke up at a decent hour as well. Now in her current state Jade often found herself exhausted. She had been going to bed earlier than ever but found herself awake by 4:30 a.m. Jade would make herself get out of bed and get some work done, whether writing or editing some of her recent scripts. Sometimes Beck would find her cleaning the house, even though they had someone to do that, or organizing a closet or dresser for the hundredth time. By 7a.m. Beck would make them breakfast and they would watch the news, catch up on a tv show, or watch a movie. By then Jade was ready for nap and Beck would get some work done himself, whether he did some writing or took some meetings.

On this particular day both Jade and Beck had clear schedules and just been sitting around the house.

"Do you want to go do something? You feeling up to anything?" Beck asked his wife.

"Yeah, we could do something. My boobs hurt but maybe if we were doing something I would have something else to think about. Let's go somewhere without people or paparazzi. Also air conditioning."

"I have no idea where that would be."

"Let's just get in the car, you drive, and hopefully I'll come up with something before the end of our street. By the way, we have plans Friday because Cat and Robbie wanted us to go to the beach with them and the kids but I told them we already had plans. I mean they can find someone else to help them with their herd and I've already been to the beach once in the last three years so I'm good."

_Please review and the next chapter will be the Second Trimester. Beck and Jade will tell their friends! What would you like to see a pregnant Jade's 2nd trimester look like?_


	9. Second Trimester

**Chapter 9**

**Second Trimester**

**Week 13**

Tonight Cat and Robbie were hosting dinner. Tori, her husband James, Andre, Jade and Beck would be there. Tori had just gotten back from tour. She had made it big as a pop star and occasionally acted in a few projects. She was currently fighting to stay relevant in an industry where popularity was often temporary and the next big thing was always around the corner. Tori's husband James was a music producer. They had met through Andre. Andre had just gotten back from working in New York for about a month. He was a singer, writer, and producer that everyone in the music industry wanted to work with. Robbie and Cat had finally gotten together and married. He ran a production company with Sinjin and Burf from their high school days. They were currently in their third season of a sci-fi show they created and ran named, "Effects". Cat was mostly a stay at home mom that was the creative head for a kids costume company, "Dressed Up", before having children she had a huge hit on Nickelodeon where she had a show for toddlers where she sang, danced, and taught them their ABCs and 123s. Jade was a screenwriter and playwright. She already has numerous plays, tv shows, and movies under her belt. She did some acting but mostly stuck to writing and then directing and producing it. She had complete creative control over her projects. Jade would even compose the musical scores and contribute to the sound track for her products. Beck was a movie star; there wasn't a doubt about it. He had also stepped behind the camera to direct a few projects and dabbled in writing a few of those. It was a reunion of sorts as the successful group of friends were often jet setting around the world and they were all finally in one place.

Cat and Robbie had the meal delivered and all the kids were with their grandparents so the gang was having a relaxed adult dinner, which was a rare event in the last few years. Cat and Robbie's kids as well as Tori's little girl were usually running around like crazy. There were usually a few dogs too. Jade and Beck were both glad that this dinner was chaos free. It would make telling their friends the pregnancy news much easier. They were very anxious to get the news over with as they had been anticipating telling their friends for some time. They were excited and waiting for the standard ten week mark and for their friends to all be in one place had been difficult. There were so many times that Jade wished she could go to Cat and Tori for advice; that was a thought she had never entertained before. Jade was self-efficient and didn't like asking for or taking the advice of others but pregnancy was a journey she was a novice in and she would gladly seek help in the women around her with experience.

The group was sitting on Cat and Robbie's back deck in the warm sun. They were going to eat soon so Jade gave Beck the signal to share the news of their impending arrival. However, there was a glitch.

"I have some news to share with everyone," Tori excitedly stated, "I'm pregnant!"

Everyone jumped out of their seats to congratulate Tori and James. A chorus of congratulations sounded. Once the excitement had died down Beck was making his move to go ahead and announce the news he and Jade were going to share. He figured he might as well share it now. Jade however gave Beck a panicked look so he shut it down. Luckily their nonverbal communication had always been stellar.

"I'm going to go get some more ice," Jade stated when the excitement had died down.

"There's ice in the ice bucket right here," Cat said pointing to the ice bucket.

"I want fresher ice," Jade said and no one thought it was strange since Jade was a pretty high maintenance woman.

"I'll help," Beck said as he joined Jade.

Beck then caught up with Jade who stopped only to grab his hand and drag him through the house to the living room so no one could see or hear them.

"I can't believe it. Of course I decide to have a baby and on the day I announce my pregnancy Tori declares that she's pregnant too. I can't believe her. This is horrible. I can just see it. Cat's going to want to throw us a joint baby shower. Actually I would bet my Oscars that Cat will want to get pregnant too. Everyone's going to think that we planned to get pregnant at the same time. I would never be a part of that stupid plan. It's so cliché, friends should not plan out their ovulation and procreating schedules. I hate that. Also, I don't want any of my children marrying their children or them signing me up for stuff at the PTA or Tori's kid being my kid's competition. "

Jade then began to use her Judy Garland voice to imitate how Tori would act once their children were born, 'My baby said his first words has yours?' and 'My baby's already walking but I'm sure yours will too,' My kid had perfect attendance,' or 'My kid got the solo and is staring in the school play."

As Jade vented, Beck imagined what it would mean to see Jade and Tori both pregnant at the same time and for their children to grow up together. He imagined that the competition between them would be worse than high school because this time they wouldn't be competing with each other. They would be standing up for their child. Jade and Tori part two would be world war three. Beck quickly snapped back to reality. He gave Jade the old shut up kiss right in the middle of her addressing how annoying it will be when Tori gets her body back after pregnancy faster than her. Beck used the opportunity to tell Jade that the situation could not be changed.

"You and Tori are going to be pregnant at the same time. That may bring forth a lot of issues but on the bright side you can watch Tori get fat. So let's go in there and tell them that we're going to have a baby just like we originally intended, "Beck assuredly stated.

"Ok," Jade agreed, "She did look a little bloated. And by little I was being nice. She's very bloated. Also our kid is going to be way better than Tori's anyway. The DNA of both of us is brewing in our fetus. Let's tell them after dinner," Jade confidently said and then gave Beck a kiss and led the couple back to their friends.

After dinner Beck looked to Jade to give the go ahead. Jade nodded a yes.

Beck took Jade's hand and announced to the group, "So guys Jade and I actually have something to share as well. It looks like Tori and James's kid will have a playmate."

"Gosh, Beck of course Tori and James's kid will be able to make friends,"Cat stated as everyone's smiles went to bewilderment at Cat's often nonsensical mind.

"I'm pregnant Cat, with a human baby," Jade spelled out slowly for her friend.

Everyone then proceeded to cover their ears as Cat let out a scream that could be heard in outer space. Everyone offered their congratulations and hugs. Jade reluctantly accepted their hugs as she was uncomfortable by the situation and the excitement of others over the situation. Tori pulled Jade in for a long hug stating how excited she was that they were going to be pregnant together and their kids were going to grow up together. Jade didn't even hug her back. She stood there limp in Tori's embrace. Tori failed to notice. Jade began feeling a little nauseous.

By the way, Jade was correct. Cat declared that now she too wanted to get pregnant so that the three of them could have joint baby showers, play dates, and help each other with breastfeeding (what). Cat was practically hyperventilating. Robbie was also close to hyperventilating as he thought about what having a fourth child would mean.

**Week 14**

Jade picked up Cat and the two headed over to Tori's house for lunch. The three girls sat around Tori's kitchen table swapping pregnancy stories. Jade could usually talk to Beck about anything but when it was concerning pregnancy she was a bit uncomfortable talking to Beck about certain things and it's not like he could relate. He also worried and told her to lay down every time she said she didn't feel one hundred percent. Jade would also usually talk to her mom about anything but it had been a long time since she had been pregnant with Jade. Jade realized it was nice to have girl friends that had been pregnant and were not only a source of information but also sympathy.

"So your fourteen weeks, right Jade, and how's your first trimester been," Tori asked.

"Yeah, well the morning sickness was pretty bad at first. But as long as I avoid certain foods and don't move around too much after eating I'm totally fine. By the way, morning sickness is a stupid name. It should be called like invader sickness since it makes you feel like the baby is invading your body, which is technically true. If my breasts weren't so sore right now I'd come up with a better name," Jade shared.

"I'm 8 weeks. I've been so lucky with this pregnancy I've hardly had any morning sickness," Tori relayed while Jade fought the urge to not kick her under the table with her heeled boots.

"Hopefully, soon I'll be pregnant too," Cat cheerful exclaimed.

"So Robbie relented and agreed to have another baby?" Tori asked.

"No. But I went off the pill. Robbie says he won't touch me but I'm hoping to butter him up. I've been trying to make him feel nostalgic by going through the kids baby albums and bringing up stories about what it felt like to watch the kids learn to walk and eat peas for the first time and pointing out cute babies when we're out of the house," Cat explained.

"Well, the way to get a man to sleep with you is certainly to bring up babies," Jade commented sarcastically which of course went right over the naïve girl's head.

"Cat are you sure you want to have another baby? Remember how much work it is and how much sleep you lose? You already have three kids and won't having another just make everything harder?" Tori addressed.

"But we might have a son and I'm sure Robbie would love to have a son. I want our kids to grow up together."

"What is Robbie going to do with a son? He's much better with girls. Also, if you have another baby you won't have anytime to hang out with us or babysit mine. I'm gonna need some help and you won't be available," Jade said trying to open up Cat's eyes.

"I'll have time to help you and babysit your precious baby. I can handle having another baby. I just have to get Robbie to ya know "do it" with me," Cat said trying to convince her friends.

Tori and Jade gave each other a look that said they weren't getting anywhere with Cat.

"Well, I have to get going," Jade said getting up from the couch, "Also you have three children you shouldn't still be using the term "doing it".

**Week 16**

"Babe, you ready?" Beck shouted as he jogged his way up the stairs.

"God, Beck don't rush me," Jade shouted, "I swear I won't even go."

"I'm sorry. Do you need help with something," Beck asked in a low voice trying to turn Jade's mood around as he made his way towards her rubbing her arm from shoulder to elbow.

"I don't have anything to wear," Jade complained.

The couple was going to dinner with a few friends in the business, Emmanuel and Isabel Santos. They were good friends of the couple and had already told them they were expecting.

"We're having dinner with them at the Chateau Marmount and there is always paparazzi lurking about. We don't want the paparazzi to find out I'm pregnant yet. When they find out we won't get a moment of peace."

"Babe, you're not showing."

"Great my husband's a liar."

Beck knew he had to proceed with caution. He would either be accused of being a liar or calling Jade fat.

"Just put on the shirt you were going to wear and let me see it on you," Beck requested.

"Well, I was going to wear this peplum shirt because it would cover since I look like I had a big lunch but because of where the lace hits in the back I have to wear a bra that doesn't have a band in the back but I can't because my boobs are too big for that bra now. So I was going to wear this peplum shirt but it's too low cut so newly enlarged boobs will fall out. So I was going to wear this peplum top but it only looks right with jeans and I can't wear jeans to the restaurant. I know I can wear this shirt but I have a skirt I can wear with it. What if the skirt doesn't fit? I've got an avocado in here. The baby is the size of an avocado now. Remind me to put avocado on the grocery list."

Jade than disappeared back into the closet and quickly got dressed. She then emerged from the closet and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Glad I could be of help," Beck quietly uttered to himself after Jade's rambling tantrum.

"It looks great. No one could ever tell that you're pregnant," Beck told his wife.

Jade looked in the mirror satisfied. The outfit worked and luckily it still fit. At this point in the pregnancy Jade was luckily to be barely showing. In the past when tiny Cat was pregnant by four months she had already been waddling. Jade being tall and slim but curvy was carrying her pregnancy well. Being a celebrity trying to keep her pregnancy under wrap from the media Jade couldn't just go to a store and buy maternity clothes. She had to order them online under a fake name. Some of the clothes she had ordered would be coming in a few days so Jade just hoped she wouldn't balloon up in the meantime.

"Alright, I'm ready," Jade remarked as she stood before Beck.

"Are you sure you want to wear those shoes? Wouldn't it be safer if you wore flats?" Beck asked entering protective husband/father mode.

"Flats, no way in hell. Flats can't be worn with this outfit. Also I'm not clumsy and I've been mastering heels for years. Lastly, we're eating dinner not jogging. Chill," Jade said as she made her way to the garage door with Beck at her heels.

"Ok, you're right. That makes sense. By the way, did I tell you how hot you look?"

"That's more like it," Jade said turning around in which Beck met her lips in a kiss.

"For that comment you might get lucky tonight or tomorrow morning depending on how tired I am after dinner," Jade informed her husband, then sent him a wink, and turned back around opening the garage door.

**Week 17**

Beck and Jade sat in bed, both reading their own copy of a pregnancy book on their ipad. Jade felt that if she had to know about some of the gross things about pregnancy and experience them then so did Beck.

"Eww,"Jade commented.

"What?" Beck asked.

"What page are you on?" Jade asked as she leaned over looking at Beck's ipad.

"Oh, just wait till you get to the part I just read."

After about a minute and half Beck caught up with Jade.

"Eww," Beck commented agreeing with Jade.

"That's just not happening to me. I don't sweat and I will also not be doing that. That's just for gross people," Jade explained as if it was a logical statement.

"I can think of a few times you've sweated," Beck said making his voice sound sexy.

"Shut up," Jade said jokingly.

After a few more pages Beck spoke up commenting on what he had just read,"Do you think you've felt the baby move?"

"So far it's been hard to tell. Last night I woke up once and it kind of felt like I felt something but sometimes I just feel weird in there any ways. So it's hard to tell, at least right now," Jade explained putting her hand on her slight baby bump.

After a few more pages Beck and Jade decided to stop reading. Jade went to the restroom and upon coming out crawled back into bed next to Beck.

Beck began playing music from his ipad.

"Why are you playing a Pogue song now?" Jade questioned Beck as he held the ipad closer to Jade's stomach.

The book said that the baby can hear now and we should play music. It contributes to intelligence, musical ability, and good taste. Well, I added the good taste part but the other two were in the book," Beck explained.

"Alright, I'll allow it."

"What other music should we steam into my uterus?" Jade said after a few stanzas.

"John Lennon," Beck said as he began to play Jealous Guy and then he played the Rolling Stone's Wild Horses.

"Ok, pretty solid choices. Let me have a go at it," Jade said taking Beck's ipad.

She then began to play Carly Simon's You're So Vain, to which, she clarified looking down at her stomach and saying, "I don't mean that your vain I just like this song and want you to hear it.

Beck could only laugh at Jade's antics and then playful tried to snatch the ipad from her hands, "You're going to give our baby a complex. I should do the song choosing."

"Give me another chance. Here's The Clash. We'll give our kid some edge."

"Much better."

"Joan Jett's coming up next."

**Week 18**

Beck and Jade were lying in bed watching t.v. It was part of their nightly routine.

"What are you thinking babe?" Beck asked his wife as she seemed too deep in the thought for the television program they were watching.

"I'm thinking about writing a horror movie about some sort of invasive creature invading a woman's body. Those movies are always so sucky and cliché though. Of course, I could do it better since I'm me."

"Oh," was all that Beck could say and all he could think was, "being pregnant must really feel strange."

"I'm pretty sure the baby's moving," Jade told Beck as she guided his hand to feel it.

Jade was pretty sure that she had felt the baby move a few times before but now at this stage in pregnancy it was the first time she had been certain of it and Beck was near to feel it as well.

"Wow, I feel it. That's amazing," Beck said grinning and kissing Jade on the cheek and lips.

"So you think we're having a boy or girl?"

"I don't know. A boy might be easier cause he could take after you but I saw this really cute black tutu my mom showed me once. Last night I had a nightmare that we had a girl and she was in to pop, pink, and ducks. It was awful Beck," Jade confessed with tears in her eyes as she cuddled into Beck's shoulder.

Beck was rather use to Jade's emotional state changing as fast as the speed of light. He had always thought that pregnant women being hormonal was just was a stereotype. In Jade's case it was a matter of fact. The couple went back to watching t.v and Jade started flipping through a magazine. It wasn't too long before Beck could tell she was bored.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep now."

"I'm not tired. I took a nap this afternoon," Jade told her husband as she moved back closer to Beck and began to run her hand up and down his thigh leaning in to kiss him on the cheek and neck.

Their lips met soon but all too soon Beck pulled away and declared, "It's getting late. We should go to sleep."

He turned off his bed side lamp and they both laid down. Jade once again kissed her husband and he made no effort to deepen the kiss so Jade went back to her side of the bed.

Never one to forgo being direct Jade frustrating questioned, "Do you want to have sex or not?"

Beck was taken aback and managed to stumble out an answer, "Uh, I'm just really tired. Rain check? Ok, then goodnight."

Jade was now sitting up in bed and Beck's back was to her. He could feel her staring at him so he closed his eyes tightly pretending to be asleep. Although he could not see her just the feel of her angry gaze was too much to take.

"What?" he exclaimed rolling over.

"I'm fine," Jade angrily declared, although Beck knew she was far from fine.

After an excruciating moment of silence Jade finally spoke up saying, "Sure, my husband doesn't want to have sex with me because I'm fat and he doesn't find me attractive. Although there are people that have sex with others they don't find attractive my husband still isn't interested.

"I'm sorry. You're beautiful and sexy it's just that you're pregnant. Not that that has effected how beautiful and gorgeous and sexy you are."

"I've been pregnant for months! I also feel that I must point out that we had sex last night. So what's changed since last night?"

"I know but now there's a baby moving around up in there. I mean it moved just tonight and I felt it for the first time."

"It's moving up in there all the time," Jade frustratingly stated and then sheepishly stated, "I don't feel it moving around right now."

"I guess it's just kind of weird to think about. I know it's there and has been but it's so much more real now," Beck admitted.

"It's weird for me too, way more weird for me since I'm the one experiencing it firsthand. I can't get away from it like you can. It's not velcroed in there. It's always with me. It's not like I want to have sex like this either. It's not about what I want. It's about what I need damn it. I'm the one growing a human and you're suppose to do whatever you can to take care of me," Jade passionately declared.

"You're right. I'm being stupid."

"Remember after we first found out I was pregnant you were ambivalent."

"Yeah, but you ended up seducing me," Beck said with a slight smile.

"And you didn't even give me you're A game," Jade declared sounding jilted.

"Then the next night you seduced me again."

"You figured out how to give me some A game that night and the night after that," Jade said in her easily seductive tone of voice.

"I can't really fit into anything seductive now," Jade admitted sounding rather depressed.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to do the seducing now," Beck whispered leaning in to kiss his wife and take away her troubles.

**Week 19 **

"Okay, everything looks great. I'm still a little concerned about your blood pressure. It's still a bit high but it hasn't increased since our last appointment so that's good. Of course, based on your medical history before you became pregnant your blood pressure was also on the high side. We'll just keep a close eye on it so that if you develop preeclampsia we will know. Have you had any trouble or questions about getting rest, light exercise, and eating well?" the doctor asked Jade as Beck sat beside her rubbing her arm for a source of comfort.

"No, I've been doing all of those things," Jade stated as Beck shook his head in agreement.

It was a challenge for Jade to take a break and slow down but the exhaustion that pregnancy had often left her with had made it much easier. Since Beck and Jade had both scaled back with work projects it also made it much easier as Beck was around to keep an eye on his wife, intervene, and occupy her time."

"I suggest you try pregnancy yoga. Many of my patients have found it beneficial," Jade's doctor suggested.

"I guess I can look into it," Jade said although she had tried yoga once in the past the meditation portion had left her stressed. She was willing to try it again for the health of her baby and herself.

"Alright, let's start the ultrasound. Do you still want to find out the gender?"

"Yes," Jade said looking at Beck for confirmation.

After the doctor took measurement and was in position she looked up at the expectant parents and said, "This is a good angle, it's very clear. Take a look at the screen. Can you see for yourself the gender?"

Beck and Jade both squinted their eyes looking at the screen. They were pretty sure of what they saw but a bit hesitant just in case. Each softly smiled and looked at each other which caused a bigger smile.

Jade spoke up, "A boy."

"That's right, congratulations, you have a son," the doctor stated.

Later that day Beck and Jade had their parents come over for dinner so they could share the news.

All their parents got to their home at the same time and rang the doorbell, anxiously waiting.

"Hey, come on in," Beck stated as he answered the door.

"Where's Jade," their parents rang out in a chorus.

"She's in the kitchen," Beck answered as the parents rushed past him.

As soon as Beck joined everyone in the kitchen, he heard a chorus of," So are you going to tell us," and "What did you find out?"

"Oh, yeah we're having that pasta salad for dinner with garlic bread," Jade calmly stated.

"And….," Jade's mom Evelyn said as the other parents shook their heads anxiously and leaned in.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Beck chimed in.

"Quit playing around you two," Beck's dad James ordered.

"What are you guys so anxious about?" Jade asked.

Carol, Beck's mom, sighed, "I guess they're just not going to enlighten us. They're going to make us wonder about our only grandchild, the only child of our only children."

"Oh, you want to know if the baby is a girl or boy," Jade exclaimed.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Beck added.

Jade then turned around and opened up a kitchen drawer. She took out the ultrasound picture and posted it on the refrigerator using a magnet.

"Take a look for yourself," she said.

The three parents turned and gathered around the fridge leaning in and pointing to the ultrasound photo, "A boy. It's a boy," they began to exclaim looking at Beck and Jade for confirmation and when the couple shook their head yes and the three parents began expressing how excited they were and then the parade of hugs began but Jade didn't let it go on too long as she soon announced it was time to eat.

**Week 20 **

"So what should we do? The media still hasn't discovered Jade's pregnant, which is like a record for someone of your status that lives in LA. Beck's movie premiere is in a few weeks," Amelia, Beck and Jade's publicist stated as their agents Joan and Rachel nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's just I know that the vultures are going to descend on us as soon as they find out I'm pregnant," Jade said.

"You could always not go to the premiere," Beck suggested.

"Then the vultures would descend on us with divorce rumors, stalk us, and find out I'm pregnant" Jade countered.

"What about just showing up at the premiere? Hopefully by then I will definitively look pregnant and not like I've got a major problem area," Jade recommended.

"Well, women in your position have certainly done that before," Joan added.

"I don't know. That would create chaos and take the focus off the movie," Jade pointed out.

"Beck's doing promotion for the film, he's going on The Tonight Show. He could announce then," Rachael suggested, "If you want to continue hiding this as long as possible that is the way to go. People will find out shortly before the premiere but not to far ahead of time so you won't have to deal with too much chaos from the paps. Everyone will get their pictures at the premiere."

"After the announcement I can issue a statement confirming the pregnancy and saying you're due in the fall, as well as, asking for privacy," Amelia recommended.

Beck and Jade looked to each other and with silent communication agreed and the plan was set in motion.

**Week 21**

"Jade I can feel you stressing from over here," Tori whispered as Jade had been tapping her foot rapidly.

"You are suppose to be meditating?" Cat then whispered.

"All meditating is doing is giving me time to think about everything. Now I can't stop thinking: what kind of screenplay am I going to write next, do I want to direct the last screenplay I wrote, why are nursing bras so ugly, what if I never lose the baby weight, what if the kid ends up having my personality I mean a boy with my personality that equals jail, what do I want to have for dinner tonight, I still haven't decided on a nursery theme…," Jade rambled on.

"I am a professional yoga expert and I have never been so stressed in a session," the yoga expert Tori hired admitted as she rolled up her mat, "I think we should call it a day."

Tori looked angrily at Jade.

"What?" Jade angrily shot back at Tori.

"How about we go each lunch?" Cat suggested trying to keep the peace.

"I made brownies!"

Jade and Tori gave in to their pregnancy cravings, forgot about their grievances and made their way to the kitchen.

**Week 22**

"Hey, can't sleep?" Beck asked.

"No, I can't get comfortable," Jade replied as Beck sat up.

"How much sleep have gotten?"

"Not much."

"What can I do?"

"You should go back to sleep and I should just go watch tv in the living room or something."

"You can watch tv in here. I'll stay awake with you."

"Okay." Jade said putting her head on Beck's shoulder.

**Week 23 **

"Hey Cat," Jade said as she answered her cell phone.

"I'm pregnant!" Cat shouted causing Jade to hold the phone away from her ear.

"Wow, congrats."

"You don't sound surprised."

"Well, you told me Robbie relented and agreed to have another baby and you have the fertility of a fifteen year old so I've been expecting this call. But I'm really happy for you and I'm even looking forward to our kids growing up together. Beside I'm gonna need another mom around to keep me from losing it on Tori. And now you have a reason to keep all those baby holiday outfits because I sure as hell don't want them, like the elf outfit and the pumpkin outfit and that four leaf clover outfit."

"I know. I can't wait to use them again," Cat exclaimed as Jade laughed.

"Put Beck on the phone so I can talk to him."

"He's already heard, he's sitting next to me although even if he were upstairs he could've heard you shouting the news."

"Congrats, Cat," Beck said in the background loud enough so the excited woman could here.

"Thank you. Love you guys. I gotta go call Tori now. Bye."

"Bye, talk to you soon."

**Week 24**

"So how's it going?" Andre asked as he took lunch out of the bag.

"Good. Today's been a boring day though. All I've done is watch tv. I can't leave the house since I can't really hide the pregnancy anymore and the media still doesn't know. I'm starting to feel like a prisoner in my own house. Not being able to leave makes me want to leave even more," Jade explained.

"Well, we could go for a drive tonight, out to the desert or something. No one would see us and no one would be around."

"Well, when you put it that way it sounds like the perfect scenario for you to kill me. But I'm becoming desperate so I'll take the risk and go."

"So what are you working on these days?"

I'm producing for SpeakEasy and trying to right some songs for myself but I got a little writer's block. If it's not gone by the end of the week I'm gonna start going nuts. Last night, I sat in my living room starring at all my grammy awards, feeling the pressure."

"Well, I've been there. But Andre, you always get this way before you embark on your latest album. It will pass."

"Yeah, I know. And next time you have writer's block I'll give you the same advice when you're cutting up your curtains or in the middle of baking your fifth cake for the day or cleaning your house in spite of you having a maid."

"Alright, I know you didn't come over here to harass me. I know Beck told you to check up on me while he's in New York promoting the movie."

"Hey, can't one friend just bring his friend who happens to be pregnant some lunch and catch up. Yes, Beck may have suggested I stop by but it's not like I wouldn't be here anyways."

"Oh, is the baby moving around and stuff, can I feel?"

"Based on that facial expression let's forget I ever asked that question and I'm going to change the subject. You'll never guess who I've been talking to lately?"

"I know I'll never guess. You've had a lot of girlfriends Andre. But I will guess the profession. Let's see young ingénue singer or model? I'm going to guess model."

"Model is correct. It's Raquel."

Jade let out a moan of disgust.

"You've never liked any of my girlfriends. If you're so displeased with the girls I date then why don't you set me up."

"I don't know any girls. I'm not a big fan of people. It makes it hard for me to play matchmaker. Anyways, every girl you date is either drama, self-absorbed, a fame whore, there were a few straight up whores, um….," Jade continued until Andre interrupted her.

"Okay, I get it. I shouldn't get back with Raquel. I'm not the type of guy that is afraid of commitment. I would love to get married and start a family. I just can't find the right girl."

"I can't exactly offer dating advice. I've only ever dated one guy, Beck. You should probably widen your demo. You know branch out from models and aspiring singer. Maybe try some secretaries, personal assistants, a maid….," Jade joked.

"Are you going into work today?" Jade asked.

"No."

"Want to watch tv with me?"

"Sure. Maybe I could do like some Hollywood hot shots and find a girl and arrange a meeting," Andre joked.

**Week 25 **

"Are you sure this dress is the right one?" Jade anxiously asked.

"Yes, it's perfect."

"You're right. I look pregnant not fat and it's not some ugly maternity dress. It's a normal but kickass dress that happens to flatter the body of a pregnant woman."

"Damn straight," Isabel said, "I made that dress specifically for you."

Tonight was the night of Beck's movie premiere and the entire world would find out that the Oliver's were expecting. It was a secret they had kept from the public and media for far longer than they ever imagined would be possible. They knew that when the news got out things would get crazy and they desperately wanted to avoid that. Since Jade was now showing and she couldn't hide it anymore she hadn't even gone out in public in weeks save for doctor appointments. Luckily, Beck and Jade had always been intensely private and were not the type to go to every premiere and party they were invited to so their being m.i.a. in public hadn't clued in the paparazzi.

An hour later Beck and Jade were in the back of a sleek black car on their way to the premiere.

"Are you nervous?" Beck said taking Jade's hand in his.

"Yeah," Jade hesitated saying.

"Did I tell you how good you look in that dress? You look so sexy," Beck whispered kissing her neck.

"Yeah, yeah, you mentioned it earlier. I just hope I can sit through the entire movie without having to get up and pee."

"Don't press on your mother's bladder," Beck said looking down at the baby and moving his hand to feel for their son.

"I'm sure he'll listen to that," Jade moaned.

Soon, they were at the premiere and before departing the car Jade uttered, "Let's just get this over with," Beck agreed and leaned in for a kiss, "Ahh, lipstick," Jade declared leaning away, so Beck settled for a kiss on the chick.

The red carpet was the usual intense flash of lights and voices. It all went by in a blur. Jade only walked the carpet with Beck for brief time and did only a few interviews. The couple plastered on their public smiles and answered the media's questions. Their publicist had forewarned that the reporters be on their best behavior and not get to personal with their questions. The couple had sued enough publications, sent enough threats, and even had other celebrities join them in freezing out an suing media outlets that got to out of line. Therefore, the media knew to not cross the line when it came to the Olivers.

**Week 26**

"Alright, was that the tenth time the baby kicked this hour?" Jade asked from her position lying down on the bed.

"No that was the fourteenth time," Beck answered.

"Terrific your child is kicking me more times than is even necessary. Hey, kid it's really only necessary that you kick ten times an hour. You don't have to overdo it. It's not a competition. You don't have to compete with average."

"It's not a competition, says the most competitive person I know. You once had a competition with Tori over who could eat the most slices of pizza," Beck said from his place on the bed beside Jade.

"You know I hate when girls act like it's such a freaking amazing and superior things when they love food, their all about the food, they can each more than you, they're not a waif eating salad, and they can eat a steak as big as your head. So I wanted to take Tori down a few notches and I beat her," Jade passionately explained.

**Week 27**

"Okay, this isn't gonna work."

"Yeah, um."

"Let me just get like this."

"Is this allowed?"

"Yes, how else do you think it would work? I'm huge. Do you need to see what page number in the book this is discussed on? You read the book to. Your reading comprehension skills are lacking," Jade lamented.

Beck could only roll his eyes.

"Why are we even doing this?" Jade questioned.

Beck and Jade quickly glanced at each other and then away and then back at each other and moved in for a passionate kiss.

"Oh, yeah, that's why we do that," Jade said catching her breath as the couple laughed at how they could ever utter their prior question.

_Thanks for everyone who has reviewed. Next will be The Third Trimester. Please suggest baby names for a boy, first names ,middle names, both! _


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